Towards standard methods and metrics for evaluating IA

["Christopher Gomez" <aifia AT time.net.my>]

Hi all,

Am posting this as per Rashmi's suggestion. 

Note to Rashmi: Am not a linguist. I had to learn as much as I could -- 
it was a necessity in some sense :)

Note to Steve Mulder: Hey, Steve we may have a couple of things in 
common (i.e. through Terra Lycos and company politics **grin**).

Note to everyone else: sorry for the long intro bout me self - it was 
me cutting and pasting it from another intro I'd done before.

Best wishes,
Chris Gomez
Senior Swivel Chair Seat Warmer
www.radicate.com
==&==


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>From  Rashmi Sinha <rashmi AT rashmisinha.com> 
Date  Tuesday, July 1, 2003 11:56 am 
To  "Christopher Gomez" <aifia AT time.net.my> 

Hi Christopher,
Your point makes sense. You are right in that there has to be
forward movement towards standard/s with what this group does.
It cannot simply be sharing and sharing. We need to build that
into the agenda of the group. Whether it should be an explicit
movement towards standards or not at this stage, we should
figure out on the group mailing list itself.

Please do post this to the mailing list itself. I started
writing a reply to you and then decided that it probably
makes sense to hash this out in front of the group...

Note: Something I have been thinking about but have not shared
with the group is if we can try to provide explicit support for
standards to emerge, rather than create them. It could be a
hybrid top-down, bottom-up approach.
More later...

Anyway, generally speaking I am very open to what you are
bringing up, and look forward to discussing this on the list.

-rashmi

May I add that I am feeling quite jealous of the number of
languages you are familiar with :-) I have just three: English,
Hindi and bengali.


At 11:32 AM 6/30/2003 -0700, you wrote:

>Hi Rashmi,
>
>I'm keeping this a personal note to you first, just wanted to get your
>input first - didn't want to be seen like I'm the ideas of others'.
>
>I don't know about the "it's too soon for a standard" idea.
>
>Let's define the word standard. If standard means, it's just a basic
>idea of how we do things - sure - a standard if fine.
>
> >From the basic idea of how we do things, we can modify/improve/remove
>as we go along, learning from others.
>
>I think assuming that it's good to thrash everything out and just share
>and share and share and share all we know and have experienced is only
>going to overwhelm us, and I'm sure many of us know that it can be
>demotivating when something overwhelms us.
>
>So rather releasing the dam gates, I think a top-down approach might
>just be a little more effective. Afterall, what doesn't necessarily
>work can always be improved and fixed. It's when we have too many
>choices to consider (via a bottom up approach), our heads become numb
>and we find no concensus.
>
>I guess everything I'm writing here is still a little vague - i'm
>sorry. i just wished I had a better way to present my thoughts.
>===
>
>Just some info about me self (copy and paste job from my last
>introduction in another list - sorry):
>
>Am 29, Male. From Malaysia. 5' 8" (8' 11" on rainy days). Speak Bahasa
>Melayu, English and Malayalam (a close derivative of the Sanskrit
>language). Understand intermediate Bahasa Indonesia, Cantonese and
>Tamil, and basic Korean. Love chess, cycling, Film production, and
>thinks Timon and Pumbaa will make great information architects, if
>given a chance. || key words: Timon and Pumbaa ||
>
>Been working in the "media" industry the last 8+ years now. A software
>engineer by training, but have a passion for what goes on in the
>creative and abstract world. Worked on system-security projects for the
>US Dept. of Defense. Understand complex programming concepts, including
>OOP (though am not a die-hard believer in it). || key words: not a die
>hard || :)
>
>I believe in the equilibrium between the left and the right brain, and
>so I consider myself a hybrid - tech and creative centric? Yes,
>sometimes I wear two sock of different shades out to work.
>Nevertheless, it doesn't stop me from building systems/products
>that "truly" work for my clients. || key words: two sock of different
>shades ||
>
>Experience working with people from MTV Asia, Disney TV, and
>Dreamworks. gave me a good understanding of broadcast, film, digital
>media, globalization and the inevitability of convergence. My last 
full-
>time stint was Head of Content and Interaction with Terra Lycos
>(www.terralycos.com) in Asia (www.lycosasia.com). Currently am Senior
>Partner of a boutique animation/cross-media outfit (Radicate) based in
>Australia. Work and projects have taken me to most parts of Asia,
>though I currently do a lot of work in Singapore, Malaysia and
>Hongkong. I welcome comments personal discussion (off-list) from film
>buffs, if any. || key words: the inevitability of convergence ||
>
>My interest in the IA industry revolve alot around UI/X and am always
>pushing the limits of it's application within the scope of convergence.
>
>Am more than glad to share my "saddest" achievements - the would
>haves', could haves' and should haves' - if and when it's relevant to
>the list/
>
>Take-aways from industry and the various IA projects I've worked on:
>(1) Sometimes your colleague is your best mentor - s/he complements
>what you do - that alone is something to appreciate and learn from.
>
>(2) Saying "thank you" and "good work" never hurts :)
>
>Oh, and one more thing... you gotta' have a sense of humor -
>information architecture can sometimes be a lonely road to travel (and
>sometimes that's why it's the road less travelled). || key words: you
>gotta' have a sense of humor ||
>
>
>
>Always open to learning from my peers, here!
>
>Best wishes,
>Christopher Gomez
>Senior *Fill In The Blank*
>www.radicate.com
>==&==
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Rashmi Sinha <rashmi AT rashmisinha.com>
>Date: Friday, June 27, 2003 11:32 am
>Subject: RE: [Aifia-metrics] Agenda for the group
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Below I have summed up the jist of the comments on the agenda for
> > the group:
> >
> > -Scope of initiative should be broad. Should include evaluation
> > methods, metrics, guidelines, patterns, rules-of-thumb, do's
> > and don't. For every such contribution, it would be nice to
><== message truncated ==>


----- Original Message -----
From: Rashmi Sinha <rashmi AT rashmisinha.com>
Date: Saturday, June 28, 2003 2:32 am
Subject: RE: [Aifia-metrics] Agenda for the group

> Hi,
> 
> Below I have summed up the jist of the comments on the agenda for 
> the group:
> 
> -Scope of initiative should be broad. Should include evaluation 
> methods, 
> metrics, guidelines, patterns, rules-of-thumb, do's and don't. For 
> every 
> such contribution, it would be nice to know what worked and what 
> did not.
> 
> -Bottom up approach  (letting people share methods and measures) 
> is 
> appropriate right now. For this some sort of a community 
> infrastructure for 
> sharing is needed.
> 
> -Top down approach (standards etc.) are a worthy goal and worth 
> aiming for. 
> We do not know enough to push ahead with that currently. But its 
> important 
> to keep that in mind as we go on with the project.
> 
> Can we go around and get some feedback, suggestions on this 
> summary? Some 
> quick ay's and nay's, suggestions, refinements would be great. 
> Lets make 
> sure to hear from everyone on the list before we forge ahead.
> 
> cheers!
> 
> -rashmi
> 
> 
> 
> At 03:49 PM 6/20/2003 -0700, Susan Campbell wrote:
> >Hi,
> >
> >I share Liv's perspective that it's too soon for standards, and 
> we can gain
> >a lot learning from each other on what worked well and what 
> failed. I prefer
> >the bottom up method to get for sharing information, but top-down 
> is useful
> >when it comes to formatting all the ideas into a useful format 
> (paper, best
> >practices checklist, website, etc.)
> >
> >I'd also like to hear about the range of measures IAs need. These 
> needs>might naturally come out of method discussion.
> >
> >A bit on me...
> >Susan Campbell...I lead Information Architecture and Usability 
> Engineering>at ZAAZ, a web agency in Seattle.  Trying to balance 
> work with outdoor
> >sports so you probably won't reach me after hours ;)
> >
> >Glad to be involved and meet you all.
> >
> >Have a great weekend,
> >Susan
> >_______________________________________________
> >Aifia-metrics mailing list
> >Aifia-metrics AT lists.ibiblio.org
> >http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinf
> 
> 
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> 

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