API-First and the Customer Experience

Enabling distributed digital business with API-first architecture (Google Cloud Next ‘17) was a good, high-level overview of API strategies, and reminds me of our internal Customer Experience Model and Customer Experience Principles goals.

The “Inside-out” vs. “Outside-in” perspective is analogous to how developers used to build UIs, but we now utilize a Central UX: Experience Design & Research team to focus on the user (vs. the feature).

APIs serve different purposes, and your internal APIs might not be the SDKs or “experience APIs” the external developer needs.

• APIs as services (e.g. Web)
• APIs as interactions (e.g. Mobile or Partners)
• APIs as products (e.g. Devices)

The “mediation layer” above is where an API Gateway fits in, and where many of the non-functional requirements can be addressed.