There's a higher S/N ratio for UX architect, and it's a bit easier to bullshit your way into a job as a UX architect. Of the great UX people I've met in my time, none of them actually worked as UX architects.
As someone who is officially a UI/UX Designer but plays many roles in a small startup, I agree with you, particularly in the case of very successful startups like Square. Perhaps the reason it isn't more common is that often times it takes an in-house designer or other advocate of design to get the rest of the company on board with good design as a company priority.
Perhaps maybe they will fix the design of the square card reader? I saw the iPad + Square combo being used as a replacement for a register at a coffee shop and the lady had to fumble with it and eventually use her other hand to hold the reader so she could slide the card.
There's a lunch truck at my school that has the same problem. The problem is that the scanner plugs into the headphone jack and sits on top of the iOS device. It seems like it would be more logical to use a longer wire to get the reader off of the device and onto a nearby surface. This would also allow a more "normal" scanner size (instead of the dinky half inch one).
Congratulations to the 80/20 folks, and a great acquisition for Square. I had the pleasure of working with Andrew in the past on a couple of projects and he's both a very talented & productive designer, and a very nice guy.
It's hard to hire great people, so Square acquired a company full of great people wholesale. It's roughly equivalent to hiring with a large signing bonus, but with a very different (and more egalitarian) psychology.
For a second I thought - they are really diversifying, that's a totally different industry. And I started to have my doubts about how well this would work. I also began to worry that 80/20 had gotten into financial trouble. I use 80/20 (http://www.8020.net/) a lot in my work and I would hate for something to happen to them. But a quick reading of the link clarified that it was a different industry all together.
As such I've always wondered why more small design firms aren't acqhired.
Cool to see Square create a template for doing this, seems like a no-brainer if you can find that much talent sitting in one place