Yes Gavin, I think as you do, using AJAX in a moderate way it's the way to go…
I'm actually new to JSF, but will read a good book on this web framework and for sure I will take hands on your code to help Alfesco grow faster… it's fantastic the way Alfresco is architected and the technologies you are using (big fan of all of them) , except for JSF which is promising but has to mature more like tapestry has.
Damian del Rivero
Cofounder,
Mayastec Enterprise IT Software