Présentation de l'API Academy lors de la 3em matinée de l'API Connection le 12 mars à Paris

1. The Path to Success
Ronnie Mitra
Director of Design
API Academy
ronnie.mitra@ca.com
May 2015

2. What is the API Academy?

3. Implementing an API is easy.
Implementing an effective API is difficult!

4. A Simple API Product Lifecycle
Planning
&
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Maintenance

5. API Lifecycle at Higher Resolution
API Software Life Cycle
API Documentation
Life CycleAPI Tooling Life Cycle

6. Finding The Path To Success
Finding Your Path

7. Strong ExecutionGood Design

8. Why Good API Design Matters
API Program Goals
1. Get more developers using the interface
2. Get applications to market quickly
The Benefits of a Usability and Experience Focus
1. A better experience (increased adoption)
2. Ease of use (shorter dev cycle)
Why Good API Design Matters

9. The API Interaction: Two Boxes and a Line
APIClient

10. The API Interaction Revisited
APIClient
development platform
API
Tools

11. Significant API Product Components
Interface
Learning & Usability Aides
Engagement
Visibility & Analytics
Style and Format
(CRUD, SOAP, Hypermedia, Event-
Driven, XML, JSON, …)
Navigation & Controls
(URI format, queries, hyperlinks, …)
Behaviour
(read/write support, synchronicity,
error handling, … )

12. Significant API Product Components
Interface
Learning & Usability Aides
Engagement
Visibility & Analytics
Discovery
( SEO, registries, runtime discovery,
marketing, … )
Capability Detection
( landing pages, marketing,
metadata, … )
Onboarding
( self-service registration, identity
management, SLA, EULA, … )

13. Significant API Product Components
Interface
Learning & Usability Aides
Engagement
Visibility & Analytics
Documentation
( reference, tutorials, examples,
books, … )
Tools
( SDKs, API Explorers, … )
Community
( forums, evangelists, social
networks, …)

14. Significant API Product Components
Interface
Learning & Usability Aides
Engagement
Visibility & Analytics
Communication
(alerts,email,…)
Visibility
(report generation, error tracing,…)

15. Challenge: Too Many Design Decisions

16. Let Empathy Be Your Guide

17. API

18. API

19. Know your Users and Design for Them
• User Centred design improves usability and
Experience
• Define your audience before you design
• Make Empathy a part of your process

20. Challenge: APIs are Difficult to Change
Public APIs, like
diamonds, are forever.
Joshua Bloch
“
”

21. How do we avoid making mistakes?
• We don’t!
• Learn from mistakes: more mistakes is better
• But, make mistakes during design and before
implementation

22. Iterate early

23. An API Design Approach
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement

24. Why?
1
2
3
4
5

25. platform
language
organization
distance
knowledge
risk profile
investment
For Whom?
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement

26. Ideate, Experiment, Sketch & Prototype
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement

27. Test Assumptions
Lab Evaluation
Peer Evaluation
User Observation
Write Client Code
Participatory Design
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement

28. Implementation
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement
…

29. Good DesignStrong Execution

30. Implementation
API Architecture
APIClient
development platform
API
Tools

31. AbstractionLayer
API Architecture
APIClient
development platform
API
Tools
Private
Resources
( code, data,
transactions, message
queues, etc… )

32. Connector
API Architecture
APIClient
development platform
API
Tools
Private
Component

33. The Danger of Exposure
API API
API API API
API
Client
Application

34. Important Architectural Qualities
• Availability
• Security
• Performance
• Maintainability
• Testability
• Integrability

35. Impacting Runtime Qualities
• Availability
• Security
• Performance
Rate limiting
Policy
Enforcement
Caching
QA
System Design

36. Impacting Non-Runtime Qualities
• Maintainability
• Testability
• Integrability
Application
Design

37. Holistic Design

38. Strong ExecutionGood Design &

39. Why?
1
2
3
4
5

40. platform
language
organization
distance
knowledge
risk profile
investment
For Whom?
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement

41. Ideate, Experiment, Sketch & Prototype
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement
• Start with design-focused
sketches
• Built low-fidelity prototypes
• Increase fidelity and
incorporate actual
implementation concerns

42. Test Assumptions
Lab Evaluation
Peer Evaluation
User Observation
Write Client Code
Participatory Design
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement
• Include implementation
concerns in evaluation
• Ensure that design is
practical
• Articulate the implementation
cost

43. Implementation
1 Determine Goals
2 Identify Users
3 Design Interface
4 Evaluate
5 Implement
…
Analyze Real Usage
Identify Usability Bugs
Improve Functionality
Iterate and Evolve

44. APIClient
API
Tools
code maintainer
system maintainer
system
architecture
tools
processes
software code
Designing for Service Maintainers

45. Properties of a Holistic Design
1. Designed for organizational value
2. Prioritizes a positive user experience
3. Produces a positive experience with an
effective implementation

46. A Compass For Your Journey
1. Define Value
2. Embrace Empathy for users and developers
3. Iterate your Design Early
4. Implement Connectors
5. Design Holistically

47. The Path to Success
Ronnie Mitra
Director of Design
API Academy
ronnie.mitra@ca.com
May 2015