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API and SDK User Experience

1 post · Jul 2016

What this trail covers

Grab is evolving its approach to API and SDK design by emphasizing User Experience (UX) for both human programmers and other systems. This involves applying UX principles to the design of interfaces, considering factors like usability, efficiency, and developer productivity. The goal is to create more intuitive, robust, and maintainable APIs and SDKs that reduce complexity and improve the overall developer workflow.

All Grab trails
  1. Programmers Beware - UX is Not Just for DesignersThis post introduces the concept of applying User Experience (UX) principles to the design of APIs and SDKs, extending the traditional focus on visual interfaces. It proposes a 'UX Discovery Survey' with five key questions (Who/What is the user?, What do they want to achieve?, What are they capable of?, What can I do to make their life easier?, Is there anything similar out there that the user already knows how to use?) to guide engineers in creating better interfaces. Examples are provided for REST APIs called from mobile applications and RPC APIs, highlighting common pitfalls like multiple round trips, redundant validation logic, and poorly designed function signatures. The post advocates for prioritizing user needs and simplifying interactions, even at the cost of strict adherence to architectural purism.