IMO, this is an area where user experience specialists really earn their keep.
You need someone who can truly empathize with your users and understand what
they are doing on the site and what will bring them back time and time again.
Good user experience people understand the emotional draw of a service and
recommend changes that use these insights to create a truly compelling service.

w/o knowing anything about your service/product I have no idea if hiring a FT UE
person is worth it or not. You can reach out to me if you like and I can give
you my thoughts.

In terms of hiring a contractor, this can be worthwhile if you plan on listening
to the advice. If you go buffet on it (picking and choosing what to listen to)
chances are you'll accidentally ignore a nuance that makes the biggest
different. Design is all about the details.

Mike
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mholzer

--- In mobiledesign@yahoogroups.com, "f_friel" <ffriel@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> We've a mobile web site and we're getting a lot of visits but stickiness is
something we're concerned about. How do we ensure users come back.
>
> We're considering hiring a user experience expert to review and provide
feedback and recommend changes.
>
> Some questions:
> - Is this worth while? What should we pay?
> - Is hiring someone the best approach? If not, what is?
>
> We're a start up, so a cheaper (free) approach would be great to hear about.
>
> Thanks,
> Frank.
>