I will need to find a better timeline of this alleged “dot-com” era, because I was not aware that the onslaught of web pages had subsided… In any case, in this fork in the road when Information Architecture split into Findability, which has been unfaithful to it’s parent’s values, and Strategic Information Architecture, apparently the latter has gone less recognized though has been more innovative and useful.
I gather from this article that blogs can foster ill-researched ideas and premature proposals of methods already being explored. I think technology creates such a demand for immediate results, that good design and previous examples may be placed farther down on the list of priorities. Perhaps some contemporary designers are mistaking fresh ideas for ideas that build upon what has already been successful.
In this and other articles, I am seeing a recurrence of the designer’s struggle against marginalization. I feel this is a common problem with anyone working in any aesthetic or fine arts domain.
And though I do not entirely understand the “drunken sailors containment strategy,” I think this relates to the same problem that designers are incapable of solving problems other than visual clarity. I empathize in part with these frightened white collars, since I would not want to hand over a design problem to someone with no design training. I guess like any responsible author, lawyer, or candle stick maker, someone who takes the task at hand seriously also takes the time to understand the whole problem and educate himself in areas outside his expertise.
