Developer Experience

A talk at API Strategy conference, 2013, about what developer experience is and how to make it not suck.

Transcript

1. THE DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE
   WHAT IT IS
   WHY IT MATTERS
   HOW TO MAKE IT NOT SUCK
   pamelafox.org @pamelafox pamelafox@
   twitter.com/
   gmail.com
   http://
   Thursday, October 24, 13
   

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2. USER EXPERIENCE
   “The sum of all interactions and events,
   both positive and negative, between a
   user and a web site.”
   User Experience
   (Website, Mobile App, etc.)
   PROVIDER USER
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3. Do I want to use it? How do I sign up?
   How do I get started? How do I use it? How do I get help?
   USER EXPERIENCE
   Thursday, October 24, 13
   

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4. DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE
   “The sum of all interactions and events,
   both positive and negative, between a
   developer and a library, tool, or API.”
   Developer Experience
   (Library, Tool, API, ...)
   PROVIDER CONSUMER
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5. Do I want to use it? How do I sign up?
   How do I use it? How do I get help?
   DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE
   How do I get started?
   Thursday, October 24, 13
   

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6. ...WHY DO I CARE?
   CONSUMER PROVIDER
   Childhood University Hermit
   2002 2011
   2006 2012
   Google Coursera Khan Academy
   2013
   CONSUMER PROVIDER
   Thursday, October 24, 13
   

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7. ...WHY DO I CARE?
   CONSUMER PROVIDER
   Childhood University Hermit
   2002 2011
   2006 2012
   Google Coursera Khan Academy
   2013
   CONSUMER PROVIDER
   Thursday, October 24, 13
   

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8. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
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9. WHY DOES DX MATTER?
   I have to use X.
   Bad Experience
   Low Barrier for Leaving
   Bare Minimum Usage
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10. WHY DOES DX MATTER?
    I like to use X.
    Good Experience
    Innovative Usage External Evangelism
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11. LET’S BREAK IT DOWN...
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12. Do I want to use it?
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13. Documentation Interactive Explorer
    Does it have the features I need?
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14. Can I safely build a business on top of it?
    Licensing Pricing
    Stability
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15. Case Studies
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16. How do I sign up?
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17. How do I sign up?
    No signup! No key!
    Best answer:
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18. Automated Key Signup
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19. How do I get started?
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20. Downloads for Every Environment
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21. Client Libraries for Every Language
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22. “Hello World”
    (From 0 to 60 in 15 minutes)
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23. How do I use it?
    How do I learn how to use it?
    Do I enjoy using it?
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24. Documentation
    How do I learn how to use it?
    Comprehensive Easy to Navigate
    Reference & Guide Easy to Search
    Running Code Feedback Loop
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25. Documentation
    When in doubt, document.
    Comprehensive
    should be
    Every method, parameter, return value, defaults,
    implementation notes, errors, side effects, deprecation notices.
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26. Documentation
    should include both Reference & Guide
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27. Documentation
    should include Runnable Code
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28. Documentation should be Easy to Navigate
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29. Documentation should be Easy to Search
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30. Documentation should be Easy to Search
    on Google, too
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31. Familiarity
    Do I enjoy using it?
    API Design
    Simplicity
    Compatibility
    Debuggability
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32. API Design: HTTP
    Familiarity
    Simplicity
    Compatibility
    Debuggability
    Use standards
    (when it makes sense)
    REST, RPC, OAuth.
    Support both
    JSON & XML.
    Give meaningful
    error messages.
    Don’t throttle.
    Most importantly: Never ever use SOAP.
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33. API Design: JavaScript
    Familiarity
    Simplicity
    Compatibility
    Debuggability
    Use object literals for
    method options, not
    additional arguments.
    Use a namespace.
    Don’t extend native
    objects.
    Offer a debugging
    extension.
    Offer common methods in core API,
    everything else as plugins.
    Do all that while keeping file size small.
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34. How do I get help?
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35. Forum
    Email Subscription
    & Feeds
    Spam Handling &
    Moderation
    Poster Statistics
    & Badging
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36. GETTING FEEDBACK
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37. Documentation
    can have
    Comments
    can have
    Feedback Form
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38. Issue Tracker
    Comments
    Status
    Votes
    Notification
    Categories
    Search
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39. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
    http://developer-support-handbook.org
    http://blog.pamelafox.org/search/label/developerexperience
    http://blog.programmableweb.com
    http://developer-evangelism.com/
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40. PROVIDERS:
    1. Care
    2. Prioritize
    3. Improve
    I
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41. THE DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE
    pamelafox.org @pamelafox pamelafox@
    twitter.com/
    gmail.com
    http://
    IT MATTERS
    MAKE IT NOT SUCK
    Thursday, October 24, 13
    

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