{"id":63709,"date":"2026-05-18T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/?p=63709"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:09:41","slug":"product-backendization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/2026\/05\/18\/product-backendization\/","title":{"rendered":"Products that only provide functions to AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>#ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-number { } #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-unit-number { color: #ffffff; font-size: 40px; } #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-unit-label { color: #ffffff; font-size: 14px; } #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-unit { padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; } #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown-msg { font-size: 20px; } #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-number:after { } @media only screen and (max-width: 992px) { #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-unit-number { font-size: 20px; } #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-unit-label { font-size: 13px; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 768px) { #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-unit-number { font-size: 32px; } #ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55 .ib-countdown .ib-countdown-unit-label { font-size: 12px; } } <\/style><div id=\"ib-block-c8f9bbfc00ab4b40b0047e5e2fb4ed55\" class=\"ib-block-countdown\" data-time=\"2026-05-19T18:00:00\" data-layout=\"numbers\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hide=\"true\"><div class=\"ib-countdown ib-countdown-layout-numbers ib-countdown-separator-colon\"><div class=\"ib-countdown-time\"><div class=\"ib-countdown-number ib-countdown-hours\"><div class=\"ib-countdown-unit\"><span class=\"ib-countdown-unit-number\">00<\/span><div class=\"ib-countdown-unit-label\" data-label=\"{&quot;singular&quot;:&quot;Hour&quot;,&quot;plural&quot;:&quot;Hours&quot;}\">Hour<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ib-countdown-number ib-countdown-minutes\"><div class=\"ib-countdown-unit\"><span class=\"ib-countdown-unit-number\">00<\/span><div class=\"ib-countdown-unit-label\" data-label=\"{&quot;singular&quot;:&quot;Minute&quot;,&quot;plural&quot;:&quot;Minutes&quot;}\">Minute<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ib-countdown-number ib-countdown-seconds\"><div class=\"ib-countdown-unit\"><span class=\"ib-countdown-unit-number\">00<\/span><div class=\"ib-countdown-unit-label\" data-label=\"{&quot;singular&quot;:&quot;Second&quot;,&quot;plural&quot;:&quot;Seconds&quot;}\">second<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-63711\" srcset=\"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-1320x990.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-07.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Services that users will not even know exist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The number of services connecting to General AI continues to increase. Users can perform desired tasks without directly opening an app. This includes not only tasks that are already easy to API-ify, such as checking schedules, summarizing documents, generating images, and writing code, but also creative tools that were once considered difficult to interpret via code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This change transforms the structure of the product market. In the past, software was a tool that users actively sought out and used. They would open an app, select a menu, and execute a function. However, in an AI-centric environment, functions may not be visible above the surface. Users ask, &quot;How do I solve this problem?&quot; rather than, &quot;Which app should I use?&quot; At that moment, the necessary function is called from the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Specialized domain tools are increasingly becoming \u201cbundles of functions that AI calls when needed\u201d rather than \u201capps that users operate directly.\u201d Apps will not disappear, but there is a growing possibility that they will be pushed out of the user\u2019s first point of contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-63712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-1320x990.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-08.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A product that provides only functionality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Assuming that the functional growth of AI continues, the value of simple information-providing services is bound to decrease. General-purpose AI rapidly absorbs information that can be found through searching, information that only requires organization, and information that can be summarized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is needed next is deeper value. This is where domain specialization becomes important. There is a complexity that can only be understood in specific industries, specific tasks, and specific contexts. Each domain, such as healthcare, law, accounting, design, development, education, finance, and manufacturing, has structures that are difficult for general models to solve directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is inefficient for general-purpose AI to directly handle all complexity. Processing the detailed rules, workflows, data, and exceptions of all industries within a single interface incurs high costs. Furthermore, it must compete with other general-purpose AIs, and computational and operational costs increase exponentially with every added layer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Industries always converge toward efficient structures. General-purpose AI is highly likely to evolve in a direction where it invokes external expertise when needed, rather than attempting to directly possess all expertise. Expert tools become functional products that solve problems behind the scenes, even if they are not directly visible to the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-63713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-1320x990.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-09.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will all apps go extinct?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When general-purpose AI becomes the new home screen, the distribution channel for features changes. Users make requests directly to the AI rather than searching for apps in the app store. The AI invokes the necessary services, and users receive only the results. In this scenario, what matters is not the location of the app icon, but which function the AI invokes and when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the existing app market will not collapse in the short term. Apple and Google&#039;s mobile ecosystems remain powerful. As long as smartphones are not replaced, the influence of the App Store and Google Play Store will not easily disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, while natural language chat offers unprecedented convenience, the power of the existing product experience, consisting of one-touch and scrolling, remains intact. Handling every problem through conversation with AI is likely not the optimized experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To open up new games, a new market for experiences is required. Just as cloud technology and smartphones met to create the mobile revolution, General-Purpose AI will bring about greater changes when combined with new devices, new interfaces, and new user habits. Only then will we be able to discover niches for new user experiences, moving beyond products that merely provide functionality.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Specialized domain tools are increasingly becoming \u201cbundles of functions that AI calls when needed\u201d rather than \u201capps that users operate directly.\u201d Apps will not disappear, but there is a growing possibility that they will be pushed out of the user\u2019s first point of contact.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3280,2869,473],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-63709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trial","category--article","category-article","tag-69"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/backendization-01.jpg","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-25 21:05:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63714,"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63709\/revisions\/63714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}