Hypermedia, REST, SOAP... It's not a matter of "why" anymore but rather of "how". Still, once your API is all set up, getting developers to use it is a real challenge. A challenge you should be ready to rise to as your API can eventually be its own channel for product adoption. How to make sure developers know about your API, that they use it efficiently and finally, that they love using it

1. Getting Developers
hooked on your API
@nico_g

2. Nicolas Garnier
self-taught developer
@nico_g
@nico_g

3. Developer Evangelist
@nico_g
What my friends think I do What my mom thinks I do What society thinks I do
What my boss thinks I do What I think I do What I actually do

4. Developer Evangelist
@nico_g
Connect with devs
and help them make
the most of Mailjet
APIs
Share knowledge
at conferences,
meetups &
hackathons
Design and provide
sample code for
developers to
make their use of
the API easy
work on fun projects
to show that you can
do more with Mailjet
than sending basic
emails

5. @nico_g
~15,000 APIs
(ProgrammableWeb)

6. Developer Experience
matters
But what is it?
@nico_g

7. Developer Experience
matters
Journey to developer
Adoption
@nico_g

8. @nico_g
Developer Experience
code application

9. @nico_g
code application
Developer Experience
UX

10. @nico_g
code application
Developer Experience
DX

11. @nico_g
API designers != end users
API

12. What devs expect
@nico_gBeginner Expert
How does it
work?
Performance
design
Performance
Many languages
API reference
Community
Simplicty
Quickstart
Support
Wow effect Examples

13. @nico_g
time
difficulty
supportdev
Bad DX

14. Possible solution
@nico_gDeveloper Evangelists
Support
Public doc
Community
Developers
SEO

15. Where to start?
@nico_g
Dev focused web page
API reference
Examples
Languages and libraries
Easy navigation
Getting started
API Monitoring
Possibility to contribute

16. First impression matters
@nico_g
Documentation

17. READING DOCS
@nico_g
LOL

18. ⌘C + ⌘V
@nico_g
PRAG-MA-TISM

19. @nico_g
Don’t forget anyone
Code snippets

21. @nico_g
Don’t forget anyone
Code snippets User guides

22. @nico_g

23. @nico_g
Don’t forget anyone
Code snippets User guides Sample app

25. @nico_g
Don’t reinvent the wheel
apiary
readme.io
slate

26. Don’t reinvent the wheel

27. while (true) {
repeat();
}
@nico_g

28. @nico_g
{ }
js-doc.md php-doc.md go-doc.md
</>
metadata
code generator
templates

29. @nico_g
{
"description" : "This call sends an email.",
"resource" : "send",
"action" : "POST",
"args" : [
…
}

30. @nico_g
{{#filtersExist}}
$filters = [
{{#filters}}
'{{name}}' => '{{value}}'{{#comma}},{{/comma}}
{{/filters}}
];
{{/filtersExists}}
{{#argumentsExist}}
$body = {{{body}}};
{{/argumentsExist}}

31. @nico_g
{
"Count": 1,
"Data": [
{
{{#args}}
"{{name}}":"{{value}}"{{#comma}},{{/comma}}
{{/args}}
}
],
"Total": 1
}

32. @nico_g

33. @nico_g
Paw-some!

34. @nico_g

35. @nico_g

36. @nico_g
Thanks.