API Adoption Tip: One simple, open method »

Whether you are creating an API for internal use, partners or the wide open world of application developers -  here is a tip that could help with initial adoption of your API.

Create at least one simple, open API method.

What I mean by simple and open is an API satisfying these criteria:

• no signup required
• no authentication required
• uses HTTP GET
• returns JSON

A good example - is the the Twitter public timeline API method - no signup or authentication required.

Many API teams we work with are creating sophisticated, highly secure APIs with complex authentication and authorization requirements. The API's primary purpose is to access private, secure data.

Why would an API team working on such private stuff take the time to create at least one simple, open API method? Adoption.

If a developer can copy and paste a simple URL into his browser and see JSON coming back then he's already used your API. If he's already a user then getting him to sign up and figure out authentication will be easier for him to stomach.

How do you find an appropriate API method to create?

One place to start is your company's website. Maybe it has a listing of the products and services you sell? Or the people on the management team?

Find some information that is already publicly available and wrap an API around it. Your developers will thank you by using it, signing up and creating compelling apps.

For more on developer adoption - check out our new webinar video on Developer marketing and adoption How-Tos and best practices