The Interface Layer: Where Design Commoditizes Tech

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the concept of the "Interface Layer" - a shift in the economy led by designers rather than tech titans, where the focus is on simplification and aggregation of services through superior user experiences. It explores how companies in the Interface Layer can disrupt industries by owning the front-end experience and integrating multiple services, potentially commoditizing the underlying service providers.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The "Interface Layer"

1. What is the "Interface Layer" and how does it differ from the traditional tech industry?

• The "Interface Layer" is a shift in the economy that is led by designers rather than cable executives, tech titans, and logistics masterminds. It is a "closed" user experience built on top of a wide open and hotly competitive ecosystem of services.
• Unlike the traditional tech industry, the success of companies in the Interface Layer will be designer-driven, where the greatest user experience (speed, design, etc.) will win.

2. How does the Interface Layer impact service providers and designers?

• Service providers may initially benefit from broader reach and seamless integration into Interface Layer companies, but they risk losing their identity over time as competition heats up and they become commoditized.
• Designers are the biggest winners, as they become the most important leaders of this new business era. The success of companies in the Interface Layer will be designer-driven.

3. What are the key characteristics of companies in the Interface Layer?

• They will be design-heavy, rapidly iterating and testing user experience and interface design.
• They will measure their performance based on the degree of loyalty their interface commands, whether they have economized the end-to-end consumption of services better than anyone else, and their ability to squeeze underlying service partners on price, availability, and quality.
• They will be low-cost, high margin businesses that compete with design rather than operations.

[02] The Impact of the Interface Layer

1. How does the Interface Layer impact the user experience and loyalty?

• Customers will have a better user experience and less friction, as the Interface Layer aggregates and integrates multiple services into a seamless experience.
• User loyalty will shift towards the Interface Layer companies rather than the individual service providers, as users become reliant on a single interface to access a suite of services.

2. How might the Interface Layer be disrupted or acquired?

• Companies that can make Interface Layer companies better through complementary products or services, like hardware, maps, or data, may acquire major players in the Interface Layer.
• Potential acquirers could include companies like Apple (hardware), Google (hardware, maps, data), and Pinterest (data).

3. What are the key lessons from the rise of the Interface Layer?

• The success or failure of a product is less about the technology and more about the user's experience of the technology.
• The greatest competitive advantage will be ease and speed of use, not just for a particular action/service, but for a sequence of related services working together.
• The future is not a thousand separate dedicated apps, but rather a conduit to daily living through integrated interfaces.