[Sigia-l] Being considerate of others (Off Topic Posts)

[Lyle Kantrovich]

On 3/8/06, Alexander Johannesen <alexander.johannesen at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 3/9/06, Lyle Kantrovich <lyle.kantrovich at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Anyone who's been on this list for a while shouldn't be asking "what's IA?"
>
> Ouch! I've been here a while, and I just asked the question. Am I in
> breach of something?
>
> Alex

No.  My point, which WAS aimed at your question, was that you've been
"here" long enough to have formed your own opinions about what IA is. 
You asked "Um ... what's IA? Something isolated from UX and UID?"   If
you wanted to discuss how IA, UX and UID are related you could have
shared your own opinion.  Instead we're left to guess what your
opinions are, and wonder if you really have any opinions on IA, or if
IA is just another buzzword making up part of a big UX soup in your
reality.

The question isn't whether you have opinions, I'm sure you do. My
question is whether SIGIA is really about IA, or if it's just about
UX, or anything related to technology (new media, web, what-have-you)
or Design.

This list used to be about IA, and occasionally it still is.  If
that's the case, then most of the members of this community should
have a good idea of what IA is, and there should be a number of topics
that are clearly the "sweet spot" for IA that get discussed here.

If I want to talk about usability testing, I go to another list for
that.  If I want to talk about detailed interation design, I go to
another list for that.  That doesn't mean that those are off-topic for
this list, but honestly, would most people on this list want to talk
about the nitty gritty details of how to facilitate an international
usability test of a medical device and how to deal with different
cultural variability between test user groups?  Some people might find
it "interesting", but I'd expect more expertise on that topic on a
usability list.  On the other hand, topics such as navigation schemes,
search, metadata, card sorting, browsing approaches, etc. should be
the "bread and butter" of this list (IMO).

Breadth of topics is nice, but focus is what will keep this list
relevant and interesting for people learning and practicing IA.

--
Lyle

--------------------------
Lyle Kantrovich
Blog: Croc O' Lyle
http://crocolyle.blogspot.com

Usability Professionals' Association
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org