Interesting questions since my current job is… (checking) a UX Architect for a Fortune 500 company.
I'm reminded of a joke from the classic Woody Allen movie Love and Death:
Girl: I'm half saint, half whore.
Woody: Let's hope it's the half that eats.
What do I do? Well, my primary job is to set and define that whole "vision thing" which is understand how we can best support the customers in what they are trying to achieve around and in a particular domain. It is not about defining an experience, it is about understanding how and what the experience is and needs to be to help and support the user. I can no more define an experience any more than I can redirect the wind – I have to react and support what users bring with them and present the best interactive and engaging design possible.
So… The whole "half a designer" thing? Define "designer." If you define it that as someone who does the actual detailed design work… Then yes, I as a UX Architect am "half a designer." Because I do such work at most, half the time. Roll credits, end film.
If you define designer at a different level, someone who creates and doesn't document an experience… Then I take offense at the idea that I am half a designer. I am ALL ABOUT design, I just focus on more of the big picture aspects. To be a tad bit pretentious, just like an actual architect has to look at what materials will support the bearing weight of a building, I look at the domain, the users the context… What is the right things to factor in to make sure a design works? Ethnographic research and usability testing help me form a deeper understanding of what is going on in the domain I am designing in… and what the users focus and goals are. I have to understand all of these things.
So, to make a short answer even longer, a UX Architect title can be just that – a title. Some people I know have such a title purely as a matter of prestige and ego… Which gives the role a disservice. To me the role of a UX Architect is one that guides directs and helps a team understand what and why they should design a certain way, to help the user. Because in the end that's what we do – its what this domain is all about.