Challis Hodge’s UXblog

What if a company could reinvent itself without painful reengineering? Instead of reengineering its existing processes and building new processes from scratch, what if it could simply acquire the best practice and best-in-class business processes it needed to transform its business to the extent of radically redefining what the company is and does? What if a company could use plug-and-play business processes to aggregate completely new lines of business � to establish new market channels, to cross-sell new goods and services that complement their current line, to expand their product line without additional capital investment � what some have called “competition by outguessing links in the supply chain”? Business process management makes a whole new world of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) not only possible, but also practical, manageable and cost effective.

By simplifying transactions, online banking and bill payment have become two of the fastest growing activities on the Internet. Online banking may prove to be the automated teller machine (ATM) of the 21st Century, according to recent research. Like the ATM, online banking gives users 24/7 access to their accounts, but it goes a step further, allowing customers to conduct more complicated transactions, such as bill payment.

An inventor has designed a system of tiny lenses and mirrors he says could be used to camouflage almost any object. It would require covering the surface with lenses or “pixels” that receive, transmit and reflect light from the object’s surroundings.

Intel has released software that lets computers read lips, a step forward that could lead to better voice recognition applications. The Audio Visual Speech Recognition (AVSR) software tracks a speaker’s face and mouth movements. By matching these movements with speech, the application can provide a computer with enough data to respond to voice recognition commands, even when these are given in noisy environments.

William Gibson, is departing the blogosphere. This we learn from journalist Karlin Lillington, who interviewed him recently for the Irish Times. He will no longer be “terraforming” his “memes” to the “hypermesh”. Gibson told Lillington that the daily confessional might ruin his creative process.

New buildings could be designed and built with wireless networks installed, if Laing O’Rourke’s latest initiative proves successful. The company plans to use Wi-Fi technology on its construction sites and to develop wireless-friendly buildings.

Webreference interview with Lou Rosenfeld and Steve Krug on the User Experience Consulting Experience.

Mechanic is to Tire Technician
as
UX Consultant is to Usability Expert

Five People Pushing Tech’s Boundaries: These folks can’t wait for an economic rebound to build a new tomorrow. From low-power lighting to artificial muscles, they’re working hard now.

A Vision of Superefficient Displays: Organic light-emitting diodes invented by Eastman Kodak’s Ching Tang are already transforming screen technology. Coming soon: Lightpaper?

This Designer Sees the Cool Light: Architect Sheila Kennedy is at the forefront of weaving new flexible and efficient lighting technologies into structures.

Paving the Airwaves for Wi-Fi: Way before the public caught wind of high-speed wireless networks, Vic Hayes was developing standards that allowed the revolution to occur.

Thinking Outside the (Phone) Lines: Jeff Pulver aims to change the way people talk by bringing innovative Internet telephony services to the masses.

The Brain behind Plastic Muscle: NASA scientist Yoseph Bar-Cohen is a pioneer in the field of artificial musculature, in which energized plastic flexes like the real thing.