Interface

Interface coordination describes companies whose primary function is reducing complexity for users by hiding underlying coordination, technical, or operational details behind a stable interaction surface.

These organizations sit between complexity and the people who need to use it. They internalize difficult coordination problems and present simplified access points. A platform connects buyers and sellers without requiring either to manage the matching process. A marketplace aggregates offerings without requiring buyers to search individually. An exchange standardizes transactions without requiring counterparties to negotiate terms directly.

Interface-coordinated companies typically exhibit certain structural characteristics:

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Controlled interaction surfaces — The interface defines what users can do and see. Simplicity on the surface often requires complexity underneath.

Internalized coordination — The company absorbs matching, routing, standardization, or mediation tasks that users would otherwise face.

Network dynamics — Value often increases as more participants use the interface. Each additional user may make the interface more useful to others.

Standardization pressure — Interfaces impose consistency. Participants must conform to the interaction model the interface provides.

The coordination challenge for interface companies is balancing simplicity against capability. A simple interface may exclude important use cases. A capable interface may become too complex. Interface companies must also manage the interests of multiple participant types who may have conflicting needs.

Interface coordination is distinct from flow coordination. Flow moves things; interface simplifies access. A logistics company moves packages (flow). A delivery marketplace connects shippers with carriers and hides the complexity of matching, pricing, and tracking (interface). The distinction turns on whether the company's primary value is movement itself or the simplification of coordination around movement.

Many technology companies exhibit interface coordination characteristics because software excels at hiding complexity. But interface coordination also appears in physical businesses—brokers, agents, and aggregators that simplify access to markets, services, or information.