[Sigia-l] RE: Sigia-l Digest, Vol 16, Issue 29

[Trenouth, John]

> In fact, in the next 5-10 years, I predict that someone whose 
> job used to be called "Information Architect" will have worked 
> their way up to President or CEO of some major media or software 
> company

I'm not sure how to put this nicely, but that is ludicrous.  There is
nothing in the realm of information architecture that would adequately
qualify someone in areas like finance and strategic planning to lead a
public software or media company.  Perhaps over the years some former
IAs will have acquired enough of such corporate leadership
abilities--but then that would make their IA background incidental.

Consider this: perhaps IA is an expertise and not a profession.  Perhaps
it is one of many new expertise other professionals will need to do what
they do better (project managers, museum curators and graphic designers
for instance), but does not itself warrant dedicated specialized
professionals.  I think this is in part behind design's burning platform
(http://www.nextd.org/01/index.html).

My undergrad classes in advanced writing composition, logic, and
rhetoric taught me more about information architecture and structuring
both thought and discourse than any of the dedicated IA class I had in
graduate design school.  In most schools such class are open to
everyone, even *gasp* MBAs.