Have you ever thought about the end-of-life of a product even before launching it? Well, API products are exactly like that! There are unique challenges with depreciation and backward compatibility that need to be accounted for even before the launch. In this webinar with Rishikesh Yardi, The Breakout Space Founder Archie Agrawal has some great tips and tricks to help you navigate the tricky waters of API product development and come out the other side with a reliable and effective product throughout the shipping, maintenance, and deprecation phases.
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Webinar Notes:
- Building API products requires careful planning and consideration.
- API products need to manage end-of-life scenarios, security, documentation, and communication.
- Developers are active in developer communities and provide vocal feedback on API changes.
- Strong two-way communication with the developer community is crucial.
- APIs are communication standards for software systems to interact.
- API basics involve endpoints, HTTP methods, query parameters, headers, and request-response model.
- Successful API design considers use cases, standardization, and backward compatibility.
- Deprecating APIs is challenging and requires continued maintenance.
- API requirements balance customer desires and business considerations.
- Thoughtful shipping involves careful consideration of what to include and exclude in the API.
- Communication and transparency are key to maintaining open developer communication.
- Examples show how API changes impacted companies like Reddit and Twitter.
- Interdependence and compatibility across documentation, SDKs, and UI are important.
- Launching an API involves private beta, public beta, and general availability stages.
- Comprehensive documentation is crucial for understanding and using APIs effectively.
- API error management and handling should be robust.
- Defining pricing models and plans is important for GA launch.
- Announcements and case studies help highlight API features and use cases.
- Post-launch support, feedback, communication, and compatibility are essential.
- Balancing a robust API ecosystem against core products is a case-by-case decision.
- Deciding on API readiness depends on existing products and revenue potential.
- Deprecating APIs requires communication, time, and a gradual transition.
- Event-driven architectures and serverless computing in API development are complex technical considerations.
About the speaker
Archie Agrawal is a product manager, entrepreneur, and angel investor. She has held engineering and product roles at Bank of America, Microsoft, and most recently at Amazon. She has strong product-management expertise in building consumer, developer, and enterprise products. Among other things, she is currently building The Breakout Space - a career accelerator for early/mid-career folks and writing weekly here about tech, career, and product; and over here about the creators, companies, and culture of India.
About the host
Rishikesh is a Sr. Product Leader at Instacart. He has 10+ years of field knowledge at some of the most prestigious product companies in the world. He enjoys working on product development from the bottom-up and seeing products come to fruition.