{"id":1799,"slug":"capability-interactive-functionality","title":"Capability 2 — interactive functionality: the visitor supplies input and the site returns a computed or looked-up result (calculator, quote, search, booking, configurator)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["customer-facing-tools","interactive-tool-mechanisms","working-surface-capabilities"],"reference_body":"**Capability:** A feature where the visitor supplies input and the site returns a computed or looked-up result — a calculator, a quote / estimate tool, a search box, a booking flow, a configurator.\n\n**The defining test:** the output **depends on what the user entered**. (A static page that says \"call us\" doesn't qualify; a quote form that returns a price range based on inputs does.)\n\n**Source:** Industry-consensus definitional framing.\n\n**Confidence:** Industry-consensus (definitional).\n\n**Caveat — evidence base for outcomes is thin:** unlike capability #1, no clean current primary dataset ties interactive features specifically (calculators, booking, account state) to conversion or retention for general SMB marketing websites ([[gap-no-primary-dataset-interactive-features-smb-conversion]]). Available figures are vendor-sourced and frequently recycle the quarantined Mediafly stat ([[quarantine-mediafly-interactive-engagement-52-6-percent-2022]]). The argument rests on definitional / mechanism grounds, not strong outcome data.\n\n**Business types most served:** trades (booking + availability), consultancies (calculator / assessment), retailers (configurator), any service where the answer \"what will this cost me?\" is non-trivial.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Commodity parts now make this capability buildable at SMB scale — see the companion falling-cost-floor brief [[research-brief-falling-cost-floor-real-web-functionality-smb-june-2026]].","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"research-brief-falling-cost-floor-real-web-functionality-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the falling cost floor of \"real\" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"capability-live-frequently-updated-data","title":"Capability 3 — live or frequently-updated data: content whose value depends on currency (availability, pricing, status, hours, inventory) refreshed on a cadence rather than written once","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"capability-account-state","title":"Capability 4 — account / state: the site remembers who the visitor is and what they have done (login, saved items, order history, progress) so returning visitors resume rather than restart","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"gap-no-primary-dataset-interactive-features-smb-conversion","title":"GAP — no clean, current, primary dataset ties interactive features (calculators, booking, account state) specifically to conversion / retention for general SMB marketing websites","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"quarantine-mediafly-interactive-engagement-52-6-percent-2022","title":"QUARANTINE — \"Interactive content drives 52.6% more engagement / 13 min vs 8.5 min\" traces to a single Mediafly press release 2022; B2B sales-enablement decks, NOT marketing-website visitors","kind":"research-notes","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-website-as-working-surface-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the website as a working surface of the business — four capabilities, AI-citation decoupling, freshness as a real signal (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"capability-structured-queryable-data","title":"Capability 1 — structured, queryable data: content stored as records with fields, types and relationships so it can be filtered, sorted, searched, and assembled on demand","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"working-surface-boundary-static-page-with-contact-form-does-not-qualify","title":"Boundary: a static page with a contact form (or \"occasional email trigger\") exhibits NONE of the four working-surface capabilities","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"quarantine-mediafly-interactive-engagement-52-6-percent-2022","title":"QUARANTINE — \"Interactive content drives 52.6% more engagement / 13 min vs 8.5 min\" traces to a single Mediafly press release 2022; B2B sales-enablement decks, NOT marketing-website visitors","kind":"research-notes","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-most-businesses-need-at-least-one-of-four-not-all-four","title":"R1 — Most businesses benefit from AT LEAST ONE of the four working-surface capabilities, NOT all four; match the capability to acquisition / service mode","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-match-capability-to-business-type","title":"R7 — Match the working-surface capability to the business type: booking + live availability for trades, calculator / assessment for consulting, queryable products + account for retail","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.617Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.617Z"}