API Product Management – Driving Success through the Value Chain

03.15.12 @ 11:00 PSTVOIP or Dial-in (see chat)

Michael Hart @michaelhartJen Mazzon @jenmazzonSam Ramji @sramji

groups.google.com/group/api-craft

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@michaelhart @jenmazzon @sramji

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Driving Success through the Value Chain

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Two major changes in the world

Web ➜ ➜ Apps From 1 billion web browsers to 1 trillion devices

IT ➜ ➜ PlatformsFrom traditional IT to a world of platforms

API Value Chain

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API TeamApp User App Developer APIApps

New indirect value chain

app developers are the kingmakers

success of their end-users drives success for devs and the API

API Product Management is about understanding the needs of both the direct (developer) and indirect (app user) userof the API product

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API Team

App User

App Developer

APIApps

Consider end-2-end development experience for developers

discovery sign upget startedchoices/decisions they make points of friction that you can smooth out

What services is your API exposing to make it useful for a developer to make compelling apps?

Product managers should be app users – using apps created by developers using your API

Define & Plan

Design & Build

Launch

Grow & Evolve

API Lifecycle

Clear end goals

End user reach

Additional revenue streams

Inorganic innovation

. . .

Define & Plan

Built-in flexibility

Leave room for serendipity

Allow for flexibility in the terms

Think modular & recombinant

Define & Plan

Safeguards

Control over exposure of key business assets

Ensure controls to safeguard against catastrophic

success - make sure a developer can’t take down

your system

Define & Plan

Define & Plan

Design & Build

Launch

Grow & Evolve

API Lifecycle

Design & Build

Who are your primary customers & markets?- internal- partner- open

What different considerations for designing an API product for each?

Design & Build

Internal partner Open API

Close external partner

ALPHA Customer Phases

Design & Build

Picking earlier vs. later partners

Partner tolerance for change in the APIs?

Partner tolerance for the stress of being an early adopter?

Internal vs. external, Web vs. native mobile for the early ALPHA customer

Design & Build

Place the success of the developer over and above any other design principle

Have a functional vs. implementation focus

Don’t reveal internal organizational or system boundaries

The success of an API design is measured by how quickly developers can get up to speed and

succeed using your API

Define & Plan

Design & Build

Launch

Grow & Evolve

API Lifecycle

Launch

Out the gate

How to provision new developer on an API

Build simple sample apps & docs

Scale your process to your audience

Launch

Evangelize & drive adoption

Be clear on who you want to reach

Meet them where they already are

Provide incentives?

Launch

Validate the API design and functionality

Listen, listen, listen

Help early adopters succeed

Showcase examples

Define & Plan

Design & Build

Launch

Grow & Evolve

API Lifecycle

Grow & Evolve

Validate the API design and functionality

What is/not working

Qualitative from community

Quantitative from API usage

Grow & Evolve

Prioritize and roll out changes to the API

Streamline & optimize for top usage scenarios Keep the API exposure at pace with core services - weigh reward vs. risk

reward - how much will end users value the functionality being available toapp developers vs. risk – stability

Grow & Evolve

Interface versioning

Gotta have it! But avoid whenever possible

Standard approach is to have clear versioning

Consider whether you’re randomizing too much for the developer.

Grow & Evolve

Evaluate & evolve the API strategy

Evaluate the metrics you started with in the Design & Plan phase

Review your metrics – do they need calibration?

Grow & Evolve

Identify new markets & opportunities

If it’s a no-brainer, build & release it

If it’s questionable, go back to doing the provisional API with the partner who will best be able to capitalize on that functionality

API Value Chain

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➜➜API TeamApp User App Developer APIApps

PM

THANK YOUQuestions and ideas to:

@jenmazzon@sramji@michaelhart (bonobos.theresumator.com)

groups.google.com/group/api-craft