Experience platforms

A platform is a system of systems--an integrated, modular, and specialized technology foundation, which makes it possible to extend a published set of predefined components in a variety of ways, in order to create quickly and at lower costs new product experiences. Experience platforms also include, in addition to various technology foundations, a design system that blends seamlessly with the technology.

Familiar examples of computing platforms are those produced by Microsoft, Apple, and Google. A generic ecosystem of platforms is visualized in the following diagram:

A platform's ecosystem represents a chain of dependencies that bind the platform-maker to other companies and customers. The other companies sometimes tie their success and the success of their products to the platform's success by creating modules and components that enrich and support the platform, but depend on it for their operation.

Let's look at mobile apps, for example, in relation to the three dominant...