But the best information architects are those who understand both usability and the interface technologies. Though back to my previous point, no customer will demand good information architecture. The author has obviously done no research on his topic. Usability professionals are in demand, the profession is growing in numbers and in legitimacy, and its role in the software development process is more prominent. The Web is great, but sometimes, sad.
Any uneducated pretender can claim to have spotted a trend.
It seems to me that it is designers who should educate themselves in usability, and interface psychology. User testing should fall to the area of QA and usability to the designers. Rhodes has a few points that are true, but mostly this is the babble of someone who has not learned the how to build strong relationships. By the tone of his diatribe, I can understand why. To those of you just starting out in the usability profession, I want to assure you that while Rhodes spends a lot of effort describing sterotypical environements, his criticisms are not universal.