In the virtual world, form and function require a third element: content.

Author: rm

Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Once upon a time, the internet felt complete—every application, service, and product cleverly combined form, function, and content. Louis Sullivan's principle of "form follows function" influenced the way we think about architecture and design, while Dieter Rams' excellent design principles further advanced this idea. However, these concepts do not fully apply in the digital realm. In the virtual world, form and function require a third element: content.

Form, function, and content have always been at the core of digital experiences. Form is what we see—visual effects, decoration, and atmosphere. Function is how we operate—how we interact, explore, and experience. And content is the meaning, data, and information within. This triadic structure defines digital design and shapes the internet we know.

But recently, this balance seems to be breaking down. Form, function, and content are beginning to disintegrate, no longer tightly integrated as they once were. We see these elements being separated, losing the unified experience of the past.

Deconstructing for a New Type of User

We have experienced many cycles of bundling and deconstruction, but this time, the situation is quite different. Once complete experiences are now being broken down into independent actions. Entire services can now be simplified to an API call or a smart contract. Our interactions are scattered between server-side processing and client-side interfaces, leaving only modular fragments rather than a complete system.

When you use a new search engine, you no longer see the collaborative work of form, function, and content as in the past. You are no longer in a symbiotic relationship with form, function, and content. What you see are scattered fragments, integrated into a customized new interface. We have moved beyond a unified web into a world composed of loosely connected fragments.

But what if this deconstruction is not just a technical evolution? What if it is because the primary users of the internet are changing?

Autonomous Intelligence: The Rise of Agent Networks

A new type of user is emerging: autonomous agents. Some call them robots or bots, but essentially, they are self-guided systems—autonomous intelligence. Unlike traditional AI, which is typically embedded in human-centered design, autonomous agents navigate, process, and interact on the web in ways that do not rely on human aesthetics, processes, or user experiences. They do not require the forms we need, nor do they need user-friendly functions. They only need direct access to content and actions.

This marks the rise of agent networks—an internet where the primary users are not human. Agents can scrape, browse, and execute tasks without considering traditional interfaces. They skip the decoration, bypass the experience, and access data directly.

The change is that in a network increasingly populated by agent users, we humans are becoming the minority. Why design for thousands of human users when billions of agents can use the same systems with extreme scalability and almost no latency? When the primary "audience" is no longer human, the traditional concepts of form, function, and content lose their original significance. The three elements that once defined the internet are no longer as necessary as they once were.

Designing for Agents First

If the web is shifting to be agent-dominated, how should we design for these autonomous intelligences? What does it mean to build an internet primarily serving non-human users?

This shift means moving from human-centered experiences to agent-centered architectures. Interfaces that prioritize efficiency, data, and machine readability will replace traditional user-friendly designs. We need to achieve high interoperability and composability, allowing agents to seamlessly switch between different tasks without being constrained by visuals or experiences. Documentation, interfaces, and content may be streamlined to their most basic elements—not to guide humans, but to instruct autonomous intelligences on how to interact with the web at machine speed.

In an agent-first internet, every interaction is optimized for their needs, not ours. Familiar user experiences will be replaced, transforming into a data-intensive environment that may be difficult for us humans to recognize.

Are We Still the Masters of the Internet?

As agents dominate the web, what does this mean for us humans? What kind of internet will we inhabit when it is optimized to serve autonomous intelligences? We may soon find ourselves as secondary users in a space not designed for us, becoming visitors in a network that no longer centers on human needs.

Perhaps our internet needs to be generated on demand—a dynamic layer overlaying an agent-dominated network, appearing only when we need it and quickly disappearing. Such an experience may resemble a temporarily generated interface based on our needs, rather than a fixed interface we can rely on.

But if we design for autonomous intelligences first, what does that mean for brands, products, and content? If the digital space prioritizes machine readability and parallel processing over human interaction, what can we still gain?

We are on the brink of an internet that may no longer see us as primary users. A network that gradually detaches from our control, no longer centered on human needs. We created it, but it is changing beyond our control—reshaping itself for the increasingly dominant agents.

Are we ready to embrace an internet where we are merely visitors rather than natives?

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