Core Interaction

The Core Interaction is the central value-creating action that a platform enables. It consists of three elements: the participants (who interacts), the value unit (what is exchanged), and the filter (how the right connection is made). Every successful platform can be traced back to a clearly defined Core Interaction.

At Uber, the Core Interaction is the connection between a passenger and a driver through a ride request. On YouTube, creators upload videos that viewers consume, with the algorithm serving as the filter. Clarity about one’s own Core Interaction determines where a platform should focus its development: everything that facilitates, accelerates, or qualitatively improves this interaction strengthens the platform. Everything that distracts from it dilutes it.

The concept comes from the book Platform Revolution by Parker, Van Alstyne, and Choudary. A common mistake in platform strategies is the attempt to serve too many different interaction types simultaneously instead of consistently optimizing one Core Interaction.