Always Mind Your [Developer] Surroundings - API City 2018
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The document summarizes a presentation given by Bill Doerrfeld at API City in October 2018 about best practices for API developer relations. The presentation uses metaphors from Batman Begins to outline strategies like understanding developer needs, making APIs discoverable, communicating changes effectively, and prioritizing developer experience. The goal is to teach attendees how to build and maintain positive relationships with developers through community engagement, documentation, and responsiveness.
![PRESENTED BY:
BILL
DOERRFELD
@DoerrfeldBill
AT:
API City
Oct 2018
Always Mind Your
[Developer] Surroundings
A DevRel Montage](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/apicity-alwaysmindyourdevelopersurroundings-181004161507/85/always-mind-your-developer-surroundings-api-city-2018-1-320.jpg)
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Always Mind Your [Developer] Surroundings - API City 2018
- 1. PRESENTED BY: BILL DOERRFELD @DoerrfeldBill AT: API City Oct 2018 Always Mind Your [Developer] Surroundings A DevRel Montage
- 2. The Nordic APIs Community API Tooling Specialists API Consumers Thought Leaders, Bloggers API Owners, Practitioners Blog, eBooks Events
- 3. API Owners & Dev Consumers API Tooling Specialists API Consumers Thought Leaders, Bloggers API Owners, Practitioners Blog, eBooks Events
- 4. Reach Developer Users API Consumer API Owners, Practitioners API Consumer API Consumer API Consumer API Consumer API Consumer
- 5. Sustain Developer Relation API Consumer API Owners, Practitioners API Consumer API Consumer API Consumer API Consumer API Consumer
- 6. QUESTIONS: ● How do we make an API discoverable? ● How do we sustain positive developer relations? ● How can we fine tune the onboarding process? ● How can we improve developer experience?
- 7. WHAT WOULD LIAM NEESON DO?
- 8. IN AN ELABORATE TRAINING MONTAGE ANSWER WITH CRYPTIC APHORISMS
- 9. Goal of Presentation DevRel movie montage To master the art of API Practice
- 10. "ALWAYS MIND YOUR SURROUNDINGS" -BATMAN BEGINS
- 11. "ALWAYS MIND YOUR [DEVELOPER] SURROUNDINGS" -API CITY 2018
- 12. DISCLAIMERS ● I don’t advocate the use of hand-to-hand combat to solve developer relations issues. ● I do, however, advocate the use of extended metaphor. ● Let's forget Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson) turned out to be the bad guy, ok?
- 13. LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN
- 14. "A QUALITY API PROVIDER UNDERSTANDS THAT DEVELOPER RELATIONS IS A MATTER OF PATIENCE AND AGILITY"
- 15. DevRel Takes Time & Effort ● Evangelism vs Advocacy ● Developer Experience ● Fostering Trust ● Onboarding process ● Creating Resources
- 16. Example: Context.io Cecy Correa , Taking the Pain Out of Support Engineering - "Support rotation rarely works" - Avoid ownership confusion - Avoid abuse - Stick to working hours "I Don't Know, But I'll Find Out For You"
- 17. "YOU KNOW HOW TO ONBOARD 6 DEVELOPERS... ...I CAN TEACH YOU TO SCALE 600"
- 18. Scaling Developer Relations Self Service Human SDKs Forum management API docs 1-1 support API sandbox Response to outages Code tutorials Development, resource generation
- 19. What Makes a Good API Product Owner? https://nordicapis.com/qualities- make-great-api-product-owner/ - Language proficiency - Experience - Collaboration - Intimately understand audience - Treats API as a product Great API teams scale support to the needs of their devs
- 20. The Role of an API Evangelist What Qualities Make a Great API Product Owner? - Understand userbase - Communicate value of product - Ensure program is attractive - Always be observing, gathering feedback - Host, attend, speak at events - Build & maintain an online knowledge center - Translate tech trends - Build a community of heroes
- 21. "YOU HAVE LEARNED TO BURY YOUR PLATFORM POLICY IN LEGALESE... ...I WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO CONFRONT IT, TO FACE THE TRUTH"
- 22. Platform Policy - Easily accessible summary - Part of self-service! - Google Dev Guidelines: - Put the user first - Be transparent - Respect user data Have a human readable summary Read: https://nordicapis.com/a-humans-guide-to-drafting-api-platform-policy/
- 23. "YOU HAVE LEARNED TO POST YOUR API ON A COUPLE DEV CHANNELS... ...I WILL TEACH YOU HOW BECOME TRULY VISIBLE"
- 24. API Directories, Marketplaces, & Lists https://blog.runscope.com/posts/4-methods-to-make-your-api-truly-discoverable ProgrammableWeb Any-API.com Azure Marketplace RapidAPI.com SDKs.io Mashape Rakuten Rapid API *APAC division API Katalogen *Swedish API directory API.market APIs.guru API List The API Stack API Evangelist Public APIs Github Repo Postman API Network API-rest.com APIs.io Cenit IO Public App Directory API For That 18 as of September 2018
- 25. Ways to Make APIs Discoverable ● API Definition ● Discovery Formats ● SEO ● Competitions https://blog.runscope.com/posts/4-methods-to-make-your-api-truly-discoverable
- 26. "A NINJA API PROVIDER EMPLOYÉS EXPLOSIVE API ALERTS"
- 27. Ways to Communicate Change - Changelogs - Social Media - Automated Emailing - HyperMedia - Developer Portals and Visual Notification Change management is a strategy From: https://nordicapis.com/methods-to-communicate-api-change-effectively/
- 28. Example: Mailchimp Obvious, clear API changes in developer portal
- 29. "THEATRICALITY AND POSITIVE RECEPTION ARE POWERFUL AGENTS"
- 30. Making a Show of IT ● Design Matters ● Doc UI Matters ● Sampe Apps Twilio: Example of sleek dev portal design
- 31. "Either you own the conversation around your APIs or someone else will." – Kin Lane The API Evangelist Own the Conversation! Example: Tinder distanced from dev community
- 32. "YOU MUST BECOME MORE THAN A TOOL IN THE MIND OF YOUR API CONSUMER"
- 33. Becoming More Than A Tool TWITTER PAYPAL UBER (RIDES API) TWILIO SPOTIFY POSTMATES GOOGLE MAPS YOUTUBE MAILCHIMP ALCHEMY API What do these top self-service APIs have in common?
- 34. Superb Dev Centers! 1. Getting Started Guide 2. Authentication Guide 3. API Documentation 4. Testing Environment 5. Developer Resources: code tutorials, SDKs, sample apps 6. Support Channels: Static & Human 7. Platform Policy 7 elements of a superb dev center https://nordicapis.com/7-ingredients-that-make-up-a-superb-developer-center/
- 35. Next Level: Forum Example: API-driven German Fidor bank forum
- 36. Next Level: Community Example: Shopify forum, events, dev blog
- 37. Next Level: Dev Events
- 38. "MISSING RESOURCES CANNOT BE TOLERATED COMPETITORS THRIVE ON YOUR BAD API STYLE"
- 39. API Error Handling https://nordicapis.com/best-pract ices-api-error-handling/ - Human readable message - An HTTP Status Code (1XX, 2XX, 3XX, 4XX, 5XX) - An Internal Reference ID "Quality error codes not only communicate what went wrong, but why it went wrong."
- 40. API Style: When to Use What? https://nordicapis.com/when-to-u se-what-rest-graphql-webhooks-gr pc/ REST: stateless, rapid iteration, standardized HTTP verbs, hypermedia dependent. GraphQL: greater data control, specific data return scenarios. Webhooks: automate data updates, API updates clients routinely. gRPC: Lightweight, nimble. Good for IoT, lower power situations.
- 41. Meet Needs of Consumers: Adopting APIs & Microservices at a Major Bank , Eyal Sivan CIBC constructing agile microservices framework for open banking REST & GraphQL APIs, using open source components. & market
- 42. "MAINTAINING FUNCTIONALITY IS ONLY HALF… REITERATING WITH DEV FEEDBACK IS EVERYTHING!
- 43. Accumulate Dev Feedback https://nordicapis.com/accumula ting-feedback-4-questions-api-prov iders-need-to-ask-their-users/ - What Do You Expect From This API? - What Is Your Greatest Frustration with the API? - Why Did You Choose Our API? - If You Could Change Our API, How Would You? 4 questions API owners should ask their dev users:
- 44. Know Your Developer Needs
- 45. Find Value From Dev Needs "Find the underlying business value and how you can augment your API for it, not try to find a business value for your API." -John Sheehan, CA Technologies
- 46. "DEMONSTRATE YOUR COMMITMENT TO DEVELOPERS... ...DON’T EXECUTE PUBLIC API ENDPOINTS W/OUT WARNING"
- 47. I Don't Think This is Cool HelloSmyte, Instagram, Facebook & others shutter API access with little warning
- 48. "YOU HAVEN’T RELEASED A GREAT API… YOU’VE SACRIFICED YOUR DEVELOPER FOOTING FOR AN MVP!"
- 49. "ALWAYS MIND YOUR [DEVELOPER] SURROUNDINGS" LET'S SHORTEN THAT TO...
- 51. Always Mind Your Developers Applying the armature from Batman Begins to API strategy - Have advocates - Clear updates - Be more than a tool: SDKs, code tutorials, resources - Be vocal: own conversation - Be discoverable: SEO, API directories, marketplaces - Error responses - API style: meet the needs of devs - Improve internal efficiency: DevOps, API mindset - Feedback: easy feedback loop - More than MVP: To stay competitive, all companies need great DX now.
- 52. End Goal?
- 53. 7 Global Movements That Are Evolving The Story of APIs PRESENTED BY: BILL DOERRFELD @DoerrfeldBill AT: API City Oct 2018 Always Mind Your [Developer] Surroundings A DevRel Montage
- 55. SUBMIT TO THE BLOG! I welcome thought leadership contributions! bill@nordicapis.com
- 57. ATTEND PS 2018 THE 2018 PLATFORM SUMMIT October 22 - 24 | STOCKHOLM EXPLORE THE API UNIVERSE Attend the most global API conference on the planet
- 58. VOTE FOR BEST PUBLIC API VOTE HERE: https://nordicapis.com/best-public-api-of-2018/
- 59. Sponsor: Curity Curity is the leading supplier of API-driven identity management, providing unified security for digital services. Identity management oAuth server
- 60. THANK YOU API CITY! - Tessa Mero is doing great work to support an API community in Seattle! - Locals - See you at APIs and IPAs meetup
- 61. 7 Global Movements That Are Evolving The Story of APIs PRESENTED BY: BILL DOERRFELD @DoerrfeldBill AT: API City Oct 2018 Always Mind Your [Developer] Surroundings A DevRel Montage
- 62. "ONLY FOOLS BELIEVE DEVELOPERS ARE THE ONLY ONES INTERESTED IN APIS" Extra Liam Neeson insight ...
- 63. "YOUR API’S DOWNTIME WAS NOT YOUR FAULT… IT WAS YOUR OPS TEAM'S." "OPS HAD NO WARNING! "THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOUR PLATFORM FAILED TO ACT!" Extra Liam Neeson insight ...