[Sigia-l] unemployed?

[zapolsja at WellsFargo.COM]

Andrew Hinton wrote:
<snip>
> Now, on smaller jobs, my more capable designers are more than able to
> handle a great deal of the IA responsibilities, because 
> they're articulate,
> intelligent people who can make good judgments about how to 
> structure some
> information, and they know how to get user feedback on that. 
> That's fine...
> It means I can conserve my energy for researching, pushing 
> the envelope on
> new, more complex and challenging architectures for other 
> clients with more
> complex problems.
> 
> I like calling myself an Information Architect because I have 
> this romantic
> notion of what an Architect actually does -- create relevant 
> people-centered
> physical environments.
</snip>

Good point, Andrew.  Though I still can't locate my source for this
statistic anywhere on the AIA site where I first remember reading it, I'll
cite it anyway:  less than 20% of the new buildings constructed in the USA
every year employ an architect in their design.  Most buildings don't need
to use an architect; a construction firm and/or a structural engineer will
suffice.  I imagine that very shortly most Web sites won't need to employ an
information architect for their construction, because there won't be a
specialized enough need.  Interface designers or even programmers might have
enough of the basic skill set to create passable architectures.  But there
will still be a lot of work for big, complicated sites with a lot of content
and difficult, new technology that will require specialized experts who are
really good at managing those things in order to design sites that are
relevant and useful to the people they are intended for.  Which means some
folks will get really good at a specialized kind of IA and be able to make a
living at it, and other people will have to find something else to be good
at.  I don't see it as a bad thing that the whole world can't support
themselves just 'doing IA'.