Tonight I was reading Andre Charland's blog over on InsideRIA, which mentions how Usability/User Experience Specialists were listed as top jobs in US News & World Report's Top Jobs for 2008. In his post, he says, " I like how both the description and this story include interview users, so get out there and talk to your users!"

Granted, my quote here is taken a bit out of context, and I hope that you'll head over and read what he wrote for yourself. Andre and I are on the same page in a lot of ways. I'm delighted that we've finally made the big time by receiving headline billing in US News, but I admit that I'm suffering some growing pains here. Not to mince words, I'll say it as plainly as I can:

Becoming a usability/user experience specialist is not as simple as going out and "talking" to your users.

Let's rewind: back in the pre-bubble days of the late 90's, where many of us "old timers" got our start, usability was a hot topic. Jakob Nielsen had just published the first version of Designing Web Usability. We were all building web sites like crazy, simply because we could. Lack of business plans notwithstanding, and despite the fact that we were working with the highly limiting HTML 1.0, we were churning out those sites as fast as we could. Flash was young, and as we turned the millenium, those of us working in newly-minted UCD departments were left scratching our heads, wondering what to do with this new technology that we knew was sexy and cool but didn't quite fit into what we knew to be true.

At that point in time, my personal career path placed me under the tutelage of very seasoned, degreed Human Factors folks, who undoubtedly considered me the "new kid in town". In this environment they patiently taught me the ways, Yoda-like, giving me enough rope sometimes with which to hang myself, but never letting me truly hurt myself or my clients. Sometimes I think they merely tolerated me when I tried to apply the latest idea I had read, only to find that the Human Factors field had gone through the same trials and tribulations a number of years prior. Sometimes the result was the same and I realized that these sages did have the right answer. Sometimes we found, together, that the new ways I brought to the table really were better.

Fast forward to today. We're building sites in interactive technologies because we CAN, but not necessarily because it's the best thing to do, and we're launching them as fast as we can build them. Developers, the new new kids on the block have discovered the promise and potential that RIA's can bring to the table. I am the first to admit that the RIA technologies are sexy and oh-so-cool, but like Flash back in the good old days, there are potential situations where this technology could conceivably cause more harm than good. if you don't have the foundations of how users THINK (not just what they say), you will get yourself into trouble quickly.

Don't get me wrong. I love the promise that RIA's bring to the table. I absolutely feel that it's the way that interfaces are moving, and I think the future is exciting because of their existence. However, when you have a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail. When we perpetuate how "easy" it is to become a UX specialist and earn the 6-figure salary like US News promises we will, it's tempting for anyone to hang that shingle and declare themselves a UX specialist. We end up degrading all we have worked for in the process, and devaluing our profession.

I challenge all parties to take action - we "old timers" must step up provide the same mentorships that we received as young pups. We should not discourage the new, fresh minds, but at the same time, we are doing a great disservice if we say it's easy, because it's not something that you're born with - it's learned through repetition. New practitioners, developers and specialists alike, must avail themselves to the collective wisdom that is available rather than dismissing it because it didn't specifically address RIA's, and together, we must work to see how these great new technological opportunities fit with the collective historical knowledge. I believe from the core of my being that RIA's can be used to improve the user experience. The question is how to best make this happen and cement the value of this technology.

For starters, beware of anyone who is a self-proclaimed specialist simply becuase they are using a given technology or have read a blog or book. You receive your specialist "wings" only after you've spent hundreds of hours truly studying users (not just talking to them), making plenty of design mistakes that are uncovered in the usability lab or contextual inquiry setting prior to launch, and planning and designing a bunch of stuff that will never see the light of day. I firmly believe that anybody can become a specialist given time and practice. If you're in for the long haul and are a conscientious student of the art and science of user experience, you will become a specialist. If you are looking for a quick fix,  there is plenty of room in this world for evangelists because working together, we can strengthen the RIA value proposition, saying that it's better for users becuase we know it to be true, not just because we think it's cool.

Where are you in the continuum?