apidays Australia 2022 - API design challenges and making APIs your common language, David Yonan, FlowStep.com

apidays Australia 2022 - Enabling Business Networks
September 14 & 15, 2022

API design challenges and making APIs your common language
David Yonan, Founder at FlowStep.com
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Transcript

1. 1 “APIs are GREAT!!!” (when you have one)
2. 2022 SERIES OF EVENTS New York JULY (HYBRID) Australia SEPTEMBER (HYBRID) Singapore APRIL (VIRTUAL) Helsinki & North MARCH (VIRTUAL) Paris DECEMBER (HYBRID) London OCTOBER (HYBRID) Hong Kong AUGUST (VIRTUAL) JUNE (VIRTUAL) India MAY (VIRTUAL) APRIL (VIRTUAL) Dubai & Middle East JUNE (VIRTUAL) Check out our API Conferences www.a pida ys .globa l Want to talk at one of our conferences? apidays.typeform.com/to/ILJeAaV8
3. 2 David Yonan Founder, CEO and Head of Product @ FlowStep ▪ Former Global API and Digital Transformation consultant with ▪ 24 year career in software development ▪ Based in Sydney, Australia
4. 3 Making APIs your common language API Days Melbourne 2022 David Yonan Founder and CEO of FlowStep david@flowstep.com I’m passionate about building software, and I strongly believe in these 2 things. - You need to know what you’re building, and - Using APIs as the common language for your requirements is essential.
5. 4 David Yonan Founder and CEO of FlowStep david@flowstep.com I’ll share principles and practices to help shape the way you think about what you’re building. And I’ll show you how to get more people interested and involved in the design of APIs. These things also form the foundation upon which FlowStep has been built.
6. 5 Q: How do you make APIs your common language? A: Make APIs relevant by Adopting an “API First” mindset
7. 6 Public APIs API Catalogues Internal APIs API Products Private APIs Restricted APIs Internal APIs External APIs OpenAPI Specifications Consumer Scope An “API First” mindset is a shift in the way businesses deliver data and services
8. 7 Getting Started (we need to agree on a few things)
9. 8 Data enables Outcomes APIs transmit Data Interactions identify APIs APIs enable the process of building software Users have Problems Problems require Insights Insights define Requirements Requirements determine Functionality Functionality establishes Processes Processes describe Interactions Outcomes delight Users Enabled by APIs
10. 9 APIs are daunting and the challenges go well beyond “hello world” examples
11. 10 Do better business (internal enablement) Why you create APIs? OR / AND Do digital business (publish API products)
12. 11 How you define APIs? "Experience define the Technology" (Outside-In / Top Down) OR Technology define the Experience ("Inside-Out / Bottom Up")
13. 12 Motivators and Buy In (muster the troops)
14. 13 What motivates people Business Product Design Development Infra and Ops Winning Value Coolness Standards Confidence
15. 14 “Building the business on APIs is a competitive necessity.” Business: “How do we win?”
16. 15 “Deliver Value. Every screen, sequence and interaction of value is enabled by an API.” Product: “How do we get people to love it?”
17. 16 “Design stuff that’s realistic. Charles Eames says Design depends largely on constraints.” Design: “How do I design the coolest thing?”
18. 17 “APIs provide a framework for standards and help people to explore, discover, connect and self serve” Devs: “Stop asking dumb questions! BTW we need better standards”
19. 18 “Help people understand the services that comprise your applications” Infra and Ops: “You want what by when?! I’m not confident we can do that…”
20. 19 Flawed Processes (40 years on and we still suffer)
21. 20 Why do we always start with a blank page? No prompt, structure or guidance. We understand the constraints of the environment and the business… People are expected to “magically” know where to start, and how to work. We assume they’ll understand and follow the principles and practices that have been created by other people. This doesn’t make sense… Every project should start with the same set of questions.
22. 21 Ask these important questions "What are we building, and what value does it add?" “What’s the data? And where does it live?” "Do the services exist? And are they fit for purpose? " "What does success look like, and how do we scale that success?” “How are things related? And what happens when something changes?" “What APIs do we need? And what do they need to do?”
23. 22 New Requirements (BLANK)
24. 23 Defining data (BLANK)
25. 24 Documenting requirements Business Product Design Development Infra and Ops
26. 25 Business Product Design Development Infra and Ops The Observability NightmareTM
27. 26 Fragmentation causes Fragility
28. 27 The biggest challenge that companies face is not from technology, competition or regulation. It’s the “people” challenge. Despite best intentions, people rarely work to their full potential for extended periods of time.
29. 28 Improved Procedures (a framework to support development)
30. 29 Collaborative Design Thinking Structured Promote Agility Collective Wisdom Repeatable Models “Human” Centred Embrace Change Build Better Software Better TM
31. 30 ✓ General Principles ✓ API Specifications and Documentation ✓ API Audiences ✓ HTTP Requests and Status Codes Use ✓ API Security ✓ API Lifecycle, Versioning and Workflow ✓ Case Conventions for URLs, Data and APIs ✓ Data Objects, Enumerations and Booleans ✓ Traffic Management Policies Establish a foundation built on good governance
32. 31 Figure out which tools you want to use
33. 32 Some tools will be used to capture requirements
34. 33 Other tools will be used for documentation and artifacts
35. 34 Collate requirements, design processes, and define the documentation
36. 35 Use context and constraint to refine the collective understanding
37. 36 Formalise solutions, identify APIs, and create development artifacts
38. 37 Build the solution and try minimise change
39. 38 ✓ Recap: ✓ Think API First ✓ Solve the problem of the user ✓ Understand “Why” and “How” you create APIs ✓ Know what motivates people to get them to “buy in” ✓ Review your development processes and toolsets ✓ Beware the observability nightmare
40. 39 A collaborative, API first, and documentation first framework for modern software development
41. 40 FlowStep Supports 4 Core Pillars Requirements The context to allow your business to succeed Data The information your business requires to transact APIs The way you enable your business Governance The framework in which your business operates
42. 41 Establish Desired Outcome Create the User Flow Stories Business Objective and Value Identify Functional Objectives Detail Each Flow Step Define Interactions and Data A structured process to consistently deliver high quality outcomes FlowStep is Process Oriented which means it is Analytic, Repeatable and Scalable
43. 42 FlowStep provides observability across your business by proactively highlighting change
44. 43 Your Requirements Destinations and Formats* Documented in FlowStep Instantly Creating Documentation Configurations Artifacts *Not all integrations are completed Standards Functionality Data APIs How FlowStep works
45. 44 Application Overview
46. 45 FlowStep Demo - Click to watch on YouTube
47. 46 So in summary… Adopt API First Understand “Why” and “How” of APIs Solve the problem of the user Motivate people to get “buy in” Beware the observability nightmare Stop starting with a blank page - use a framework Make APIs the Common Language
48. 47 Check out flowstep.com Free Plans Launch Plans 15 day Free Trials
49. 48 Mike Amundsen Cincinnati, Ohio API Strategy Grant McDougall San Francisco, California Business, Sales and Marketing Alex White San Jose, California Customer Delivery & Strategy A MASSIVE thank you to my advisors, and investor
50. 49 Thank You David Yonan Founder and CEO Sydney, Australia Ph: +61 404 963 729 Em: david@flowstep.com