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HannaHodge has closed their doors. They left a very moving goodbye on their homepage
excerpt -- emphasis mine
"We believe that the industry has made great strides over the last two to three years and that many experienced individuals and teams of experts have emerged in the professional services area that are more than capable of filling the needs of this industry. Now is an appropriate time for us to apply our skills, experience and determination to new areas where we can have the most impact in the fight to humanize technology."
Goodbye HannaHodge.
But never goodbye to the good fight.
This is a sad moment and perplexing. I know there is a need for UX professionals as there is a lot of work that could be done. Six months ago I figured out what I have been doing and loving since 1995 falls neatly into the UX and IA world. The Argus closing and the HH closing have me wondering where things are going. From talking to and listening to firms that are re-evaluating their Web presentation and their Intranets, they know that they need help incorporating the user into the next steps so to improve this line of communication. Are those of us that provide this understanding and service relegated to solo roles or small groups? I hope not as really like the team concept.
Oh my.... I just made this sound as a funeral. My apologies. :)
Maybe the closing of Argus and HH doesn't speak to a declining need /respect for UX expertise, but for the degree to which UX expertise has become an accepted part of many web development/integration firms' approach.
The best decisions are best on the best information. Technology, in most instances today, wraps the information. The best way to take advantage of information, so to make the best decisions, is to make the technology usable by humans. We are sitting at a point in time when information is abundantly at our fingertips. Getting, using, and passing this information is the key. IA and UX are the gatekeepers that can unlock better uses for the wonderful technologies that are helping to drive this information age.
It's not over yet, but sadly there are lots of cautionary tales out there. It's fall in the moneytree forest. Time to act like a squirrel.