You’ve built an API, launched it, and people aren’t excited about it. Why might that be? Many people release APIs for public consumption without any regard for developer experience. This creates a developer ecosystem that invites failure or worse — it can encourage people to seek alternatives. This talk will cover common API pitfalls (spoiler, not all of them are code-related!) and how to create an environment around your API that will make developers happy.

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Andre Smith at 11:48 on 28 Sep 2018

Heard a lot of true statements like "We are afraid to talk to users" to gather requirements. I enjoyed the small rant about what Amanda hated about API's.

Amanda speaks very clearly, and never stutters of stumbles over her words. Very good talk!

Pieter Gerber at 12:27 on 28 Sep 2018

Very informative session. It allowed us to analyse our own API, although it is not publicly available. Quite a few valid points were made in regards to most APIs we had to deal with in the past and even current integrations. The documentation and sign-up process both hit the nail on the head as two of the most frustrating challenges with the APIs.

Thank you Amanda for a very well presented session.

Great talk, thanks for sharing your thoughts, frustrations and what you appreciate from good API's out there as well. Being in the design of a new API, we'll certainly take head of these things!

Dylan at 13:23 on 28 Sep 2018

Very interesting talk around elements of API dev which are not obvious but are important. Great talk!

Liam Norman at 00:32 on 29 Sep 2018

Amazing talk, a very well delivered talk (and even done on a tablet!) that hit a lot of interesting points. I thought the entire concept of considering developer experience for API development to be very beneficial. Very great points that I am sure 99% of API's can improve at!

Justin Fossey at 16:59 on 2 Oct 2018

API development is difficult to get right and easy to get wrong and Amanda was able to cover the topic of what people do wrong without any code and without any bias towards any specific API architecture focusing instead on things that are often an after thought.

For me the top takeaway message was that we need to look at how your users will experience our API's beyond the code as the best API can be completely ruined with sloppy documentation and a poorly thought-out sign-up processes.

During the panel discussion a question was asked about good resources for learn more about API development and Amanda was able to name a few books on the topic. Only suggestion would be to add these books as a slide at the end of the talk. Other wise a really great talk.