Platforms have existed for decades, but the modern platform economy has completely disrupted traditional business models in ways that have enhanced and continue to benefit our lives. But what exactly is a platform? A platform is a product or service that is reliant on a feedback-generating ecosystem to grow and thrive. As the platform scales, it offers more products and services, thereby attracting more users, who will then provide more feedback for the platform to expand. There are hundreds of platform companies around the world – think Etsy, eBay, Amazon – focusing on education, commerce, travel, and more, and while a company can sell you a bounty of products—from books to backpacks—a platform can transform an entire industry with sets of solutions.

We depend on platforms in our day to day lives—whether it’s calling a car, ordering food delivery, or paying our bills—and they’re transforming everyday needs. Here are a few ways that platforms are influencing our lives.

They make learning easy

A wealth of knowledge in the world, and no way to teach it. This was a problem before platforms. Now, anyone who wants to teach, or more importantly, wants to learn, just needs to start at one of the many learning platforms, like Coursera, edX, or Udacity. Wannabe coders can attempt lessons online, while anyone hoping to cram in some vocabulary before heading off on vacation can download foreign language apps right to their phones. Meanwhile, there are companies that help organize, track and distribute online courses—all created and designed by qualified instructors. And for the aspiring chef in us all, food sites have been collecting thousands of family recipes, organizing them and, perhaps most importantly, translating them into ways that allow chefs (new and old!) to easily download, collect and cook. 

They physically expand our horizons

How did we plan a trip before the Internet placed the world at our fingertips? It’s hard to recall, but now traditional travel agencies have been replaced by platforms with customizable search experiences, such as Airbnb, as well as platforms like TripAdvisor and Expedia, which are enabled to access search algorithms across airlines and hotels so that we can book our own deals. We can access aggregate reviews of must-see restaurants (as well as ones to avoid) and snatch unbooked rooms at a lower price, day of. Even renting a stranger’s house or apartment was a chore before accommodation sites made the process easier, affordable, and perhaps most importantly: safer.

They’re transforming banking as we know it

Thanks to platforms, the banking experience has come a long way. U.S. smartphone users spend 39 minutes per month on finance apps—compared to, say, the 168 minutes spent per month on shopping apps. However, banking will increasingly find itself less a standalone activity than one that’s a part of other experiences. Indeed, banking is becoming more seamlessly integrated into our lives, which why companies like Citi are aiming to improve banking experiences with Canvas, designed by Citi℠, is a beta-testing community as well as a testing platform, that lets you test, collaborate, and influence the latest ideas for you and your money. Canvas enables customers to co-create ideas and shape the development of banking applications that will improve functionality and the way customers manage their personal finances.

Platforms are already helping us in many everyday ways, whether you realize it or not. And, if the trajectory continues, these technological advances will continue to change the way we work, shop, and bank for the better.