Jakob Nielsen’s article Why Guidelines Change echoes some of these points, though the breath of his knowledge (I feel) surpasses those of the researchers findings above.

He identifies three ways in which a usability issues might be diminished

1. Technology improvements: Better browsers, faster bandwidth, or other beefed-up technologies make a particular design idea easier to stomach.

2. Behavioral adaptations: As people grow accustomed to certain interaction techniques, they adapt their behavior, making the techniques easier to use.

3. Designers exhibit restraint: A design element might remain problematic in principle, but Web designers learn to avoid its most obnoxious forms.

What’s interesting for me reading his article is much usability and information architecture impact the success of the site, not the design per se, but hitting the actual goals and objectives of the site.

It’s over here http://www.useit.com/alertbox/guidelines-change.html

Regards,

Ivan