Derek stands by himself making some valid points, even if they are covered in acid.

An organisation that doesn't consult its members before forming itself, and then says it stands for those members and the "IA community" IS a clique.

Posted by: Cheese Witherspoon on November 15, 2002 01:32 AM

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It will fail mainly because of the name. Why, oh why, did they choose a name that no-one knows how to pronounce or spell properly. I keep on reading it as ALFIA or AFIA and now for some reason I cannot get mafIA out of my head.

Maybe they should have done some usability with the name before launching, for all they know it might mean 'sweaty' in Lithuanian.

And now I can't stop singing "What's it all about..... Alfie ......"

Posted by: Mac on November 15, 2002 08:19 AM

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Ideas are always in plentiful supply. It's how to implement ideas that separates the men from the boys. The AIFIA crowd openly admit that they only have a goal - but no plans on how to achieve that goal. And these aren't average people you're talking about. These are supposedly the best brains in the business. What good is their big meeting in Asilomar if they can't even come up with a basic plan of action?

I think there's too much hero worship in the IA/usability business and not enough critical thinking.

What exactly do I get for my $30, Wodtke et al? My own IA pocket protector?

Posted by: Coffee cube on November 15, 2002 01:26 PM

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As I mentioned in a recent article...

http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000010.php

...we will be working on a business plan (with the participation of our new members) in the coming months.

And I agree that ideas are plentiful and implementation is the hard part. The odds of any new organization surviving more than a few years are not very good. In AIfIA's case, only time will tell.

Posted by: Peter Morville on November 15, 2002 03:54 PM

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I'm ringing in late on this, but to be fair - IA is not usability, so their name choice isn't the ironic let down I first thought it was. They went for style, not necessarily instant recognition.

I don't see anything wrong with the organization, and I see many things right with it. First of all, no one person is pretending to speak for the whole community (and, as far as I can tell, even the organization does not pretend to represent the community), and that (to me) is key. It could be worse - the IA community could have a Jakob Neilsen out in front of them and spend all their time trying to decide if he's a blessing or a curse.

That said, I think that good (if harshly worded) points were brought up by Derik, and it looks like they are paying attention, so why be so upset?

Posted by: Lydia on November 20, 2002 05:37 PM

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