Usability, Interface Design, and User Experience have always been of particular interest to me (which is why I’ve centered my career on them).

Several things are happening at once. First, you’ve got increasingly more technology and information available, from an increasingly large amount of disparate sources using different technologies. Secondly, you’ve got growing expectations for information and rising functional demands from an increasingly tech-savvy consumer base growing up in an era of thinking “anything is possible”, but seldom having experienced any of the “pain” involved in making it all happen (all the expectations, none of the appreciation).

Also, functional innovation often (and unnecessarily) comes at the cost of interface innovation, particularly in the “mashup” space.

The church does have a new CIO (I say new, but I guess he’s not that new – to the church that is), Joel Dehlin, that seems to be making great strides. He’s got 11 years experience at Microsoft (including having co-founded and managed the Microsoft Surface project – some incredible technology), then at Arthur Andersen and Novell prior to that. Plus, he’s the father of seven – he’s even ahead of my 6, but I won’t accept defeat so easily.

I noticed that he has a position open for a Director of User Experience, reporting directly to him, so apparently he understands the need. Judging solely on the expansive list of high-tech projects he’s managed to get underway, and a church-wide focus on making the most of technology, I’d say we’re in good hands.

Still, I guess it is just in beta, knowing the church’s high standards, I imagine once it’s rolled out live it’ll be near-flawless. It worked great for my area (but living in Utah, that’s easy!).