[Sigia-l] AIfIA Goals 2004 Survey Results

[david_fiorito at vanguard.com]

Standards become important when the company is larger and projects can 
span years multiple IAs.  Standards allow your work to endure, to be 
easily adapted, and to be easily translated.  I understand the impulse 
towards the "art" and away from the "science".  I wanted to be an IA 
artist, and it worked while I was in a small consultancy with small 
project teams.  In the world of large corporations "art" can cause more 
problems than it solves.  We have found that standards for design, 
deliverables, process, and the like are critical to long-term success.

Standards will also help IAs when it comes time to shift employers or 
contracts.  If all of the employers out there see that there are strong 
standards and definitions around this thing called Information 
Architecture then it will be easier to evaluate candidates and fill 
positions.  I can't tell you the number of times I have seen a resume of 
someone claiming the title of information architect yet none of there 
skills or experience even comes close to the most lax definition of the 
trade.

"Standards" does not equate to "rigidity".  The PMA (Project Management 
Association) has strict standards.  Yet when they work on projects PMA 
trained project managers use those standards like an artist in their 
favorite medium.

We IAs are a lot that seems to always balk at being limited or put in a 
box, but I think the only way we will ever be taken as seriously as others 
in the professional ranks is to create standards and definitions for who 
we are, what we do, and how we do it.

Cheers,

Dave






anne at mindstorm.com
Sent by: sigia-l-admin at asis.org
12/18/2003 12:45 PM

 
        To:     "Donna M. Fritzsche" <donnamarie at amichi.info>
        cc:     sigia-l at asis.org, (bcc: David Fiorito/IT/VGI)
        Subject:        RE: [Sigia-l] AIfIA Goals 2004 Survey Results





Agreed. A good IA should be able to adjust tools and processes to fit the
needs of any given project and/or client.

-Anne

> At 12:20 PM -0500 12/18/03, Noreen Whysel wrote:
>>Another way to read the initiative question is as a cart before
>>horse problem.  Can we Promote IA effectively before developing the
>>practice with standardized tools and processes?
>
> If you truly mean standardized tools and processes- I would say  eeks!
> I think there is an art and a science to what we do, and while its
> useful to have a toolset of accepted/well-regarded tools and
> processes to pull from - I think it would be terrible to try to
> standardize the process.
>
> (except at the level of shared international standards for underlying
> formats -such as Dublin Core - I think these types of standards can
> be useful.)
>
> my .02
>
> Donna
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