Description of Interfaces

Many ExO attributes (e.g., Community or AI/Algorithms) are well understood by the business world. Interfaces, however, are one of the least documented—yet most important—business dynamics we have ever uncovered. 

All platform businesses create value by facilitating exchanges between two or more interdependent groups, usually producers (supply side) and consumers (demand side). Platforms businesses use Interfaces to automate the supply side and/or the demand side. For example, on eBay, both the creation of an auction (supply side) and the selling of the item (demand side) are automated Interfaces that can be self-provisioned by the user. Providing your partners with a user-friendly API allows others to easily build businesses on top of your services, thus turning you into a platform.

Interfaces serve as filtering and matching processes, enabling ExOs to connect with and manage their SCALE externalities. These processes often begin as manual and slowly become automated around the edges, eventually evolving into self-provisioning platforms that allow the ExO to scale. For instance, Google’s AdWords has become a multi-billion dollar business, largely due to its self-provisioning nature. Interfaces like these help ExOs systematically and automatically filter and process outputs from external attributes (SCALE) and integrate them into the core organization. As a result, processes become more effective and efficient, reducing margins of error.

When a company grows exponentially, Interfaces become crucial for seamless scaling, particularly on a global level. Exponential Organizations have developed unique Interface processes to coordinate data and to oversee everything from prizes to personnel. Kaggle, for example, manages its million data scientists. The XPRIZE Foundation has mechanisms and dedicated teams for each prize. TED enforces strict guidelines for consistency in its franchised TEDx events. Uber has customary protocols for handling its army of drivers. Interface processes are often unique and proprietary to the organization that created them, representing a distinct type of intellectual property with considerable market value.

ExOs devote significant attention to Interfaces, employing human-centered design thinking to optimize them. As Interface processes evolve and become more powerful, they typically involve heavy instrumentation and metadata gathering, which feed the company’s Dashboards. Ultimately, Interfaces often become the most distinguishing internal characteristics of a fully realized ExO. At peak productivity, Interfaces enable an enterprise to manage its SCALE external attributes, especially Staff on Demand, Leveraged Assets, and Community and Crowd. Without effective Interfaces, an ExO cannot scale. For all these reasons, they are mission-critical.

One way to conceptualize Interfaces is to consider their role in managing abundance. While most processes focus on scarcity and efficiency, SCALE elements generate large result sets, necessitating Interfaces that are designed for filtering and matching. For example, the Apple App Store receives millions of submissions, requiring a very sophisticated Interface to manage, filter, categorize, and down-select all those entries.

Because good Interfaces are personalized, they enable a close relationship with individual users. Over time, they incorporate a select subset of user stories, not only enriching these relationships but enabling the quicker development of relationships with new users.

In fact, Interfaces facilitate beneficial interactions at scale and determine whether abundance and supercharged growth will overwhelm the ExO or enable it to successfully convert that abundance to value. They are the key to standardizing processes and accessing new information and resources, including Leveraged Assets and Staff on Demand.