Forget the customer funnel. The idea of a linear journey—from awareness to purchase—is a relic of a simpler time. Today’s customer does not move in a straight line. They operate in a constant swarm of activity: scrolling, searching, sharing, and co-creating across dozens of platforms and contexts. Their path is not predictable; it is fluid and self-directed. Trying to force this dynamic behavior into a rigid funnel is futile. Instead of managing a process, leading companies facilitate a system. They build environments that attract and sustain this swarm, creating value through participation, not persuasion, by designing a responsive business interaction model.
In today’s hyperconnected economy, the rules of value creation are being rewritten. Companies that once thrived on control, efficiency, and scale are now being outpaced by those that foster collaboration, connectivity, and community. The most forward-thinking brands are no longer simply offering products or services—they are building dynamic environments that unlock exponential value for all participants. In contrast to conventional pipeline business models, interaction fields foster collaboration across multiple elements and multiple stakeholders to co-create mutual value through ongoing, collaborative process. A good interaction model is an essential framework that defines how a product or system operates based on user behavior. The result: resilient, adaptive, and exponentially scalable businesses that outperform their competition.
The Fundamentals of Interaction Design (IxD)
If interaction fields are the new strategic landscape for value creation, then Interaction Design (IxD) is the discipline of shaping that landscape. It’s not about designing static objects; it’s about choreographing the dynamic exchange between people and technology. IxD focuses on the way users engage with a product or service, moving beyond aesthetics to architect the very flow of action and reaction. This is where a brand’s promise is either fulfilled or broken. In a world where digital and physical realities merge, mastering these interactions is fundamental to building the kind of engaging experiences that drive loyalty and growth.
Defining Interaction Design
Interaction design is the practice of designing the dialogue between a user and a product. Think of it less as a blueprint and more as a script for a conversation. This script dictates how a system behaves, responds, and feels in the hands of a real person. It’s the invisible force that makes an app feel intuitive or a website feel frustrating. The goal is to create a system that enables users to achieve their objectives in the most effective and enjoyable way possible. This requires a deep understanding of user behavior, psychology, and the technological medium itself, ensuring every click, swipe, and command contributes to a seamless and coherent experience.
The Acid Test of a Great Product
A product’s design is truly tested at the moment of use. All the strategy, branding, and development culminates in this single point of contact. If the interactions are clunky, confusing, or slow, the design fails—no matter how beautiful it looks. This is the acid test. A user’s perception of your entire brand can be shaped by a single frustrating experience. Great interaction design ensures that when a user engages, the product responds with clarity, efficiency, and even a bit of delight, turning a simple function into a memorable and positive brand moment.
Why IxD is Critical for Business Success
In an economy built on experience, IxD is no longer a niche discipline; it is a core business competency. The quality of interaction directly impacts customer satisfaction, retention, and ultimately, revenue. A product that is easy and enjoyable to use will always outperform one that isn’t. Businesses that invest in IxD are investing in their customer relationships. They understand that a smooth interaction builds trust, while a poor one erodes it. This focus on the user’s moment-to-moment experience is what separates market leaders from the laggards, creating products that people not only use but actively choose and recommend.
Meeting High User Expectations
Today’s users have little patience for poorly designed products. Their expectations are shaped by the best-in-class experiences they have every day, from their smartphone to their streaming services. To succeed, products must meet or exceed these established standards. Anything less feels broken. This is where a robust brand and experience strategy becomes critical. It ensures that every interaction is intentional, intuitive, and aligned with what users have come to expect. Failing to meet these expectations isn’t just a design flaw; it’s a direct path to customer churn and market irrelevance.
The 5 Dimensions of Interaction Design
To structure the design of these interactions, designers often think in terms of five dimensions. This framework helps break down the complex dialogue between a user and a product into manageable components. It’s a way to ensure that every aspect of the user’s experience—from the words they read to the actions they take—is considered and crafted with purpose. These dimensions work together to create a single, cohesive experience, ensuring the final product feels both logical and intuitive.
Words and Visual Representations
The first two dimensions, words and visuals, form the most direct line of communication with the user. Words, such as button labels or instructions, must be clear, concise, and provide just enough information without causing cognitive overload. They guide the user and set expectations. Visual representations—including typography, icons, and images—are the graphical elements the user interacts with. These shouldn’t just be decorative; they should support the words and make the interface easier to understand and use at a glance.
Physical Objects, Space, and Time
The next dimensions ground the interaction in the real world. Physical objects or space refers to the medium through which users interact—a mouse and keyboard for a laptop, or their fingers on a mobile phone. The context of where the user is, such as in a busy train station versus a quiet office, also shapes the interaction. Time is the dimension that covers how users perceive the duration of their interaction. This includes how long they wait for a page to load or the feedback they get from an animation, all of which heavily influence their perception of the product’s performance.
Behavior
Behavior is the dimension that ties everything together. It encompasses the actions users perform, how the product operates, and how it reacts to user input. This is the mechanics of the interaction. What happens when a user clicks a button? How does the system provide feedback to confirm the action was successful? This dimension is about creating a predictable and reliable system where the user feels in control. It’s the sum of all the parts working in concert to create a fluid and responsive experience.
How IxD Fits into the Broader Design Landscape
Interaction design doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is a critical component of a larger system of design disciplines that work together to create a holistic customer experience. Understanding its specific role helps organizations build more effective and collaborative design processes. While other disciplines focus on the “what” or the “why,” IxD is laser-focused on the “how”—how the user actually accomplishes their goals with the product. This focus is essential for translating a high-level business strategy into a tangible, usable, and successful product.
IxD vs. UX and UI Design
People often use the terms IxD, User Experience (UX), and User Interface (UI) interchangeably, but they represent distinct, albeit overlapping, disciplines. UX design is the umbrella term for the entire journey a user has with a product, from their first awareness of the brand to their post-purchase support experience. UI design is concerned with the visual presentation and aesthetics of the product. IxD sits between them, focusing specifically on the moment of use. It is the craft of shaping the interactive experience itself, making it a vital and specialized part of the overall UX design process.
From Pipelines to Platforms: A Business Model Revolution
Traditional pipeline business models have dominated the industrial era. In a pipeline model, companies create products or services, push them through a linear value chain, and sell to end consumers. Control and ownership of the value chain are centralized. The customer plays a passive role, and success hinges on efficiency, quality, and distribution. The entire process is one-directional, from production to purchase. Think of classic automotive manufacturers, consumer goods brands, or even media companies: They control resources, make decisions internally, and deliver finished offerings to passive recipients. The pipeline model has proven effective in a stable, predictable market landscape. But today’s customers are led by digital interactions, operating in a world where speed, responsiveness, and adaptability are paramount. This model is increasingly obsolete not least because it is limited by internal capabilities, and unable to harness the power of external networks. While many companies have built powerful brands and efficient supply chains, a pipeline model’s value is limited by what a company can produce and deliver through its own resources. A pipeline model struggles to keep up with today’s expectations for personalization, co-creation, real-time data, and artificial intelligence. In contrast, an interaction field is a dynamic, multi-stakeholder environment that enables participants to interact, collaborate, and co-create value. It is not a supply chain or a marketplace. It is a living ecosystem that fosters continuous interaction among users, partners, developers, regulators, and even competitors. Value is not delivered in a straight line; instead, using new technologies, interaction fields scale through network effects, shared resources, and a shared sense of purpose. This allows businesses to grow faster, innovate more effectively, and build more resilient market positions. Additionally, considering various form factors, such as mobile, tablet, and desktop, during the development of these interaction fields is crucial for visualizing the foundational structure of a product.
Characteristics of an Interaction Field Business
Successful interaction field businesses typically share three defining characteristics:
- Open Ecosystems: They allow diverse participants—customers, partners, institutions—to connect and engage freely. Value is co-created, not just delivered.
- Purpose-Driven Engagement: These models are anchored by a clear, compelling purpose that unites all stakeholders. Real-time interactions are driven by data, AI, and network effects.
- Network Orchestration: Rather than owning every touchpoint, they orchestrate interactions, data flows, and collaborations to drive exponential value. A shared purpose aligns participants toward collective benefits—not just individual profit.
This model isn’t just a theoretical framework—it’s the engine behind some of today’s most iconic and high-performing companies.
Principles of Effective Interaction Design
An interaction field is not a place; it’s a system of behaviors. Its success depends entirely on the quality of the interactions it enables. This is where the discipline of interaction design (IxD) becomes a core business competency. It’s the art and science of shaping the digital and physical environments where value is co-created. Effective interaction design isn’t about adding features or optimizing clicks; it’s about choreographing the flow of participation. It defines how people, data, and systems connect, communicate, and collaborate. In an ecosystem model, the interface is the business, making the principles of its design a strategic imperative for growth and differentiation.
The Goal of an “Invisible” Interaction
The best interaction models are felt, not seen. They are so intuitive that they become an extension of the user’s intent. As the team at Built In notes, great models are “‘invisible.’ They are easy to learn, feel familiar, give quick feedback, and guess what the user wants to do next.” This invisibility is the hallmark of a frictionless environment where participation is effortless. When users don’t have to think about *how* to do something, they can focus on *what* they want to achieve. This seamlessness is what transforms a clunky platform into a thriving ecosystem, encouraging deeper engagement and fostering the network effects that drive exponential growth.
Core Principles for Good Design
To achieve this state of “invisibility,” designers and strategists must adhere to a set of foundational principles. These aren’t just technical guidelines; they are the pillars that support a user’s ability to connect, create, and contribute within the field. A well-designed interaction model feels less like a tool and more like a conversation—one that is clear, responsive, and respectful of the user’s time and attention. It’s the thoughtful application of these principles that separates platforms that merely function from ecosystems that truly flourish by making complex interactions feel simple and natural.
Consistency and Familiarity
Consistency is the bedrock of a learnable system. When a product looks and acts the same way everywhere, it creates a predictable environment. This isn’t about stifling creativity; it’s about reducing the cognitive load on the user. By using familiar patterns and maintaining a consistent visual and functional language, you build a sense of mastery and trust. Users can then apply what they’ve learned in one part of the ecosystem to another, which accelerates adoption and encourages exploration. This principle ensures that as the field grows in complexity, it remains simple and coherent for every participant.
Discoverability and User Growth
An interaction field is a living system, and its value grows as participants discover new ways to connect and create. Discoverability is the principle of making it easy for users to find all the features and possibilities your ecosystem offers. This goes beyond a simple search bar; it involves designing clear pathways, offering contextual suggestions, and creating intuitive information architecture. When users can easily find what they need and stumble upon new functionalities, they become more invested and powerful participants, which in turn enriches the entire network.
Thoughtful Feedback
Every action within an interaction field should have a clear and immediate reaction. Feedback confirms that the system has received a user’s input, communicates the result of their action, and guides them toward their next step. This can be as simple as a button changing color when clicked or as complex as a notification about a successful collaboration. Thoughtful feedback makes the user feel seen, understood, and in control. It transforms a one-way command into a two-way dialogue, reinforcing the sense of a responsive, intelligent environment that is working with the user, not just for them.
The Process of Building an Interaction Model
Creating an effective interaction model is a deliberate process that moves from abstract human needs to concrete system behaviors. It’s a strategic exercise in empathy, foresight, and systems thinking. The process isn’t linear but cyclical, involving continuous refinement based on user behavior and feedback. According to Built In, building these models involves a sequence of steps, including “Scenario Ideas, Conceptual Models, Information Architecture, Screen Layouts, Components, [and] Patterns.” This structured approach ensures that the final design is not just aesthetically pleasing but is fundamentally aligned with the goals of the users and the business.
Starting with Scenario Ideas and Personas
The entire process begins with people. Before a single wireframe is drawn, strategists must develop a deep understanding of who will be participating in the ecosystem and what they hope to achieve. This is done by creating detailed user personas and mapping out potential scenarios of interaction. What problems are they trying to solve? What are their motivations and frustrations? By starting with these human-centered stories, you ensure that the technology serves the user, not the other way around. This foundational step grounds the entire design process in real-world context, leading to a more relevant, valuable, and successful interaction field.
Building the Human Ecosystem: The Role of Business Relationships
While technology and design provide the architecture for an interaction field, it’s the quality of human relationships that brings it to life. An ecosystem is, at its core, a network of people and organizations working toward a shared purpose. As experts at Harvard Professional Development point out, “Strong business relationships are very important for professional success.” In the context of an interaction field, they are more than important—they are the essential connective tissue. These relationships foster the trust, collaboration, and shared understanding necessary for co-creating value. Without a deliberate focus on nurturing these connections, even the most brilliantly designed platform will remain a hollow shell.
Four Types of Professional Relationships to Nurture
To build a resilient and thriving ecosystem, leaders must cultivate relationships across four distinct but interconnected domains. Each type of relationship plays a unique role in supporting the health and growth of the interaction field. Thinking of these as separate but overlapping spheres of influence allows you to strategically invest your time and resources where they will have the greatest impact. It’s about moving beyond simple networking and toward the intentional cultivation of a robust human network that can weather challenges and seize opportunities together.
Team and Stakeholder Relationships
The foundation of any strong ecosystem is internal alignment. The relationships between your team members, executives, and internal stakeholders set the tone for all external interactions. When communication is clear, trust is high, and everyone is aligned around a common purpose, the organization can move with speed and coherence. This internal cohesion is the engine room of the interaction field, providing the stability and direction needed to orchestrate a complex network of external partners and users.
Ecosystem and Partner Relationships
These are the relationships with the external players who directly contribute to your value proposition—the developers, suppliers, distributors, and other partners who help you deliver your offering. In an interaction field model, these are not transactional, vendor-client arrangements. They are true partnerships built on mutual benefit and shared goals. Nurturing these connections means investing in joint planning, transparent communication, and shared success metrics to ensure the entire ecosystem thrives together.
Industry Connections
No business operates in a vacuum. Maintaining strong relationships with peers, thought leaders, and even competitors within your broader industry provides critical context and foresight. These connections help you stay attuned to market shifts, emerging technologies, and evolving customer expectations. They are your early warning system and your source of inspiration, allowing you to adapt and innovate ahead of the curve. A well-connected organization is better equipped to understand the larger forces shaping its environment.
Client and Customer Relationships
In an interaction field, customers are not end-points; they are active participants and co-creators of value. The relationship moves beyond a simple transaction to become an ongoing dialogue. By actively engaging with clients, listening to their needs, and involving them in the innovation process, you transform them into loyal advocates and essential partners. These deep customer relationships provide invaluable insights that fuel the continuous evolution and improvement of the entire ecosystem.
The Strategic Benefits of Strong Business Relationships
Investing in relationships is not a soft skill; it’s a hard-nosed business strategy. Strong connections across all four domains create a powerful competitive advantage that is difficult for others to replicate. They build a resilient network that can absorb shocks and adapt to change. They foster a culture of innovation by facilitating the free flow of ideas and feedback. Ultimately, these relationships are the source of enduring trust, which is the currency of any successful ecosystem. When participants trust each other and the platform orchestrator, they are more willing to invest their time, resources, and creativity, fueling a virtuous cycle of growth.
Tips for Cultivating Meaningful Connections
Building and maintaining a strong human ecosystem requires consistent effort and genuine intent. It’s about showing up, listening, and adding value at every opportunity. The goal is to move beyond superficial networking to create connections built on a foundation of mutual respect and shared success. This is a long-term investment in the social capital of your interaction field, and it pays dividends in the form of loyalty, innovation, and resilience. The following practices are essential for any leader looking to cultivate a thriving network.
Build Trust by Delivering on Promises
Trust is the cornerstone of every strong relationship. The most effective way to build it is to be reliable. When you consistently deliver on your promises, you establish a reputation for integrity and competence. As one guide from Harvard notes, “When people know they can rely on you, your reputation grows.” This applies to every interaction, from meeting a project deadline to following up on a customer query. Each fulfilled promise reinforces your credibility and strengthens the bonds within your ecosystem, making partners and customers more willing to engage and collaborate with you in the future.
Ask for Feedback and Listen Actively
Creating a culture of open dialogue is critical for the health of an interaction field. Actively seeking out feedback from your team, partners, and customers demonstrates that you value their perspective and are committed to continuous improvement. But asking is only half the battle; you must also listen actively to what is being said. This means paying full attention, asking clarifying questions, and acknowledging the input you receive. This practice not only provides you with invaluable insights but also makes your stakeholders feel heard and respected, deepening their investment in the ecosystem’s success.
What’s Inside a Winning Business Interaction Model?
Successful interaction field businesses are built on several key components that ensure a cohesive and effective interaction model:
- Conceptual Models: These abstract, diagrammatic representations of entities, structures, and relationships help us grasp the big picture and understand complex interactions within the system.
- Information Architecture: This involves the organization, labeling, and hierarchy of data, providing a more concrete representation of the interaction model and ensuring that information is easily accessible.
- Screen Layouts: Visual representations of the key primary functions, verbs, and nouns form the foundational structure of the product, guiding users through their interactions.
- Components: These are based on functionality and provide hierarchy and structure to layouts. They can have multiple patterns to represent them, ensuring flexibility and consistency.
- Patterns: The building blocks of the interface, patterns bring harmony and consistency to the user interface (UI). They can be reused across different components to achieve specific functions, enhancing the overall user experience.
By integrating these components, interaction field businesses create dynamic, user-centered environments that foster collaboration, innovation, and exponential growth.
Business Interaction Model Examples
Uber: Orchestrating Mobility and Logistics
Uber operates not just as a ride-hailing service, but as a platform that connects drivers, riders, restaurants, couriers, and businesses. The interaction field here includes:
- Real-time matching between drivers and riders or couriers and customers.
- Surge pricing algorithms that respond to supply and demand.
- Data sharing that improves logistics, traffic routing, and urban planning.
- Integration with public transit, scooters, and even freight services.
- Understanding user context in real-time matching and data sharing, which enhances the overall user experience.
Uber’s strength lies in orchestrating network effects: as more drivers join, wait times drop; as more riders use the app, driver earnings rise. New services like Uber Eats and Uber for Business layer onto the existing ecosystem, compounding growth. The more participants engage, the stronger the system becomes—classic hallmarks of an interaction field business. 
Amazon: Building an Ecosystem of Business Interactions
While Amazon began as a classic pipeline business (an online bookstore), it quickly evolved into a complex platform ecosystem that exemplifies the interaction field model. Key components of Amazon’s interaction field:
- Amazon Marketplace allows third-party sellers to list products and compete on a level playing field.
- Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) enables sellers to tap into Amazon’s logistics infrastructure
- AWS (Amazon Web Services) supports millions of developers, startups, and enterprises.
- Alexa and smart devices facilitate ongoing customer interaction through voice and IoT.
Capturing the usage ratio is crucial to understand user context and significance, enhancing the visualization of scenarios through data-driven tools. Through these touchpoints, Amazon creates a self-reinforcing system where data, customer behavior, supplier performance, and infrastructure all feed into one another. Everyone in the ecosystem benefits—from shoppers to sellers to developers—while Amazon becomes the orchestrator of value creation. This interaction field is why Amazon can expand into new verticals so effectively. 
Airbnb: How It Co-Creates the Future of Travel
Airbnb is a prime example of an interaction field business that goes far beyond simple platform functionality. While it began as a peer-to-peer lodging marketplace, Airbnb has evolved into a dynamic ecosystem where all users—guests, hosts, local businesses, service providers, and even regulators—interact to shape the global travel experience. Transitioning from initial brainstorming to more concrete models is crucial for refining insights gained from user research and collaboration with stakeholders, ultimately leading to more effective design outcomes. Here’s how Airbnb exemplifies the interaction field model:
- Hosts and guests don’t just transact—all users engage in cultural exchange, build trust through reviews, and shape community standards.
- Airbnb Experiences allow locals to monetize unique skills and knowledge, expanding the ecosystem beyond accommodations.
- Data-driven tools help hosts optimize pricing, improve listings, and personalize guest experiences in real time.
- Partnerships with cities and governments foster responsible tourism and regulatory compliance, enhancing sustainability and local economic impact.
Airbnb’s strength lies in its ability to orchestrate value through a shared purpose: creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere. It doesn’t own real estate or deliver hospitality in the traditional sense—it curates interactions that empower millions of users to co-create value. The more diverse the participants, the richer and more resilient the ecosystem becomes. This interaction field approach not only fuels growth but helps Airbnb adapt to changing consumer behaviors, travel trends, and even global crises—like its quick pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic toward long-term stays and remote work travel. The most exciting part: By tapping into the collective power of its community, Airbnb continues to scale sustainably provide the best possible experience.
How Interaction Fields Drive Exponential Growth
The key advantage of interaction field models is their ability to scale non-linearly. Interaction models serve as a structural basis for building effective designs, contributing to exponential growth. While traditional businesses grow by adding more products, employees, or facilities, value in interaction fields grows exponentially with each new participant, data point, or interaction. This happens because:
- Network effects amplify utility and engagement.
- User-generated data drives personalization and innovation.
- Third-party contributions expand the ecosystem’s capabilities.
These businesses don’t rely solely on what they own—they leverage what others contribute. What this achieves is a more agile, resilient, and scalable business that thrives in complexity and change.
Interaction Fields vs. Platforms: Not All Platforms Qualify
It’s worth noting that not every platform is an interaction field. Some digital platforms merely enable transactions (like booking a flight), without fostering sustained collaboration or shared purpose. True interaction fields go deeper: they orchestrate engagement across diverse stakeholders and encourage participation in the innovation process. Interaction libraries play a foundational role in supporting design systems and style guides, ensuring a seamless user experience. That’s why Airbnb isn’t just a platform—it’s an interaction field where hosts, guests, local communities, and service providers all contribute to a shared travel experience. It’s not just about booking rooms; it’s about co-creating interactions-based travel ecosystems.
What This Means for Business Leaders
For companies still operating in a pipeline mindset, the shift to interaction fields requires:
- Rethinking competitive advantage from internal capabilities to ecosystem orchestration.
- Investing in platforms and data infrastructure to enable participation at scale.
- Identifying new stakeholders beyond just customers and suppliers.
- Building shared purpose that aligns economic and societal value.
The implementation phase is a crucial part of the design process where insights are transformed into tangible concepts.
Rethinking Strategy for the Interaction Era
To adopt an interaction field model, companies must undergo a strategic transformation. This involves moving from a “control” mindset to a “collaborative” mindset. Rather than optimizing internal operations, they must focus on enabling value creation across an entire ecosystem. Interaction design is crucial in this process, as it helps create meaningful relationships between users and technology. Questions to consider include:
- Who are all the potential participants in your ecosystem—not just customers?
- How can you facilitate meaningful interactions among all users?
- What data and insights can be shared to create relationships and drive collective innovation?
- What unifying purpose can anchor your ecosystem and attract continued engagement?
At Vivaldi Group, we work with organizations to uncover these answers, building interaction fields that go beyond linear transactions to deliver sustainable, scalable value. Let’s talk For more details on interaction field companies and business models, I recommend my book. [1] Wikipedia entry: Taxi Medallion, accessed June 6, 2020 [2] https://www.wired.com/story/new-york-city-flexes-extending-cap-uber-lyft/ [3] Douglas Rushkoff, Team Human, W.W. Norton, New York, 2019. [4] Statement by Terry von Bitra, General Manager, Europe, Alibaba Group, Germany, page 9 of this excellent report [5] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/18/there-are-now-175-online-mattress-companiesand-you-cant-tell-them-apart.html [6] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/competing-in-a-world-of-digital-ecosystems [7] Watch is excellent four minute video by Marshall van Alstyne. This point here has been made around minute 4:07
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an “interaction field” just a fancy term for a digital platform? Not quite. While a platform is often the technological foundation, an interaction field is the entire living ecosystem built upon it. Think of it this way: a platform is a stage, but an interaction field is the entire play, including the actors, the audience, and the script they create together. It’s defined by the co-creation of value among all participants—customers, partners, and even competitors—who are united by a shared purpose, rather than just a series of one-off transactions.
My company is built on a traditional “pipeline” model. What’s the first practical step to start thinking like an interaction field business? The first step isn’t about technology; it’s about perspective. Start by mapping your entire ecosystem, not just your supply chain. Ask yourself: who, besides our direct customers, contributes to or benefits from the value we create? This could include suppliers, service partners, industry communities, or even end-users of your clients’ products. Identifying these players helps you see your business as an orchestrator of relationships, which is the foundational mindset shift required to build an interaction field.
How is Interaction Design (IxD) different from the UX/UI design my team already does? It’s a great question because they are closely related. Think of it like building a house. User Interface (UI) design is the paint, fixtures, and furniture—the look and feel. User Experience (UX) is the overall feeling of living in the house, from the moment you see the listing to how you feel about your commute. Interaction Design (IxD) is the architectural flow—how you move from the kitchen to the living room, how the doors open, and how the light switches are placed. It’s the specific design of the dialogue between you and the house itself.
This model seems perfect for tech giants like Amazon and Airbnb. How can it apply to a more traditional industry, like manufacturing or B2B services? The principles are universal because they’re about connecting people and creating value through networks. A B2B manufacturing company could create an interaction field by building a platform where its suppliers, distributors, and even end-users can share data on product performance and co-innovate on future designs. A professional services firm could build an ecosystem for its clients to connect, share best practices, and access a curated network of expert partners. The goal is to shift from being a sole provider to becoming the central hub of a valuable community.
You mention that the goal of interaction design is to be “invisible.” Can you give an example of what that means? Of course. Think about the last time you used a ride-sharing app. When you opened the app, it likely used your phone’s GPS to automatically set your pickup location. You didn’t have to stop, find the street signs, and manually type in your address. The system anticipated your need and removed a step for you. That seamless, predictive action is invisible interaction design. It works so intuitively that you don’t even notice it, allowing you to focus on your actual goal: getting a ride.
Key Takeaways
- Orchestrate Ecosystems, Not Funnels: The linear customer journey is a relic. Sustainable growth comes from building dynamic interaction fields where value is co-created by all participants—customers, partners, and your team—not just pushed through a pipeline.
- Treat Interaction Design as Business Strategy: In a digital-first world, the interface is the business. The quality of interaction design (IxD) directly determines user participation and loyalty, making it a critical driver of revenue, not just a design detail.
- Build Relationships, Not Just Platforms: Technology provides the architecture, but trust is the currency of any successful ecosystem. Intentionally cultivating strong relationships with all stakeholders is the essential human element that fuels collaboration, resilience, and long-term value.
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