Affora: A Design System for Agent-Friendly Interfaces

TL;DR - Affora is a design system for interfaces that remain familiar to humans while making actions and task state legible to computer-use agents. It matters because agent usability can improve without sacrificing visual flexibility or creating separate agent-only interfaces.

• Three controlled studies examine component implementations, visual variation, and interaction-design principles.
• Agent performance depends on preserving interaction meaning in the interface representation, even when visual designs vary substantially.
• Evaluations show gains when Affora addresses existing interface deficits, but limited impact when deficits are absent or beyond its scope.
• The system provides reusable implementations and executable checks, with preliminary workflow evidence of reduced interaction cost.