3 Steps to Attracting Top API Development Talent

Featured article by Adam Ferraresi, Independent Technology Author

APIs aren’t exactly new, but if you still haven’t joined in on the party, you shouldn’t worry, because it’s never late to try something new out.

An API stands for Application Program Interface, and it’s a program that allows other apps use some functions and elements of your application. This simple piece of software can help you generate an alternative revenue stream and even enhance the experience of your users.

But just if you make an API, it doesn’t other developers will necessarily use it. As ZDNet informs, an API needs a good infrastructure, technical support, and a community around it to make it work. That means, if you want to create a good API, you need to have a good team at your hand at all times.

In order to help you put together a winning API development team, we’ve created this short guide. Here are three steps you need to take to get started.

Step #1: You Need to Have a Clear Vision for Your API

The first thing you need to figure out is – in what way do you want your API to help the end user? Every single API is different and you need to think of it as a product. If you want your product to help your users, you need to have gather a good development team and provide them with a clear vision.

When interviewing developers, you need to be sure that the candidate knows what you’re talking about right away. Therefore, you need to have your API testing interview questions ready. If the candidate fails to answer a basic question, you’ll be able to eliminate them right away and save yourself a lot of time.

Once you pick the team members, you need to start working on your documentation. That will give your team a clear direction in which to go. Also, don’t forget that you have to keep working on your documentation even after the API has been deployed.

Step #2: Start Building a Community and Providing Tech Support

As soon as you form a vision, you need to think about the developer community you would like to target. Keep this in mind – just because you’ve designed the API, it doesn’t mean you actually own the developers who regularly use it.

The matter of the fact is – you probably won’t have a saying in how your API is used. In order to attract a good number of experienced developers, you need to create an enjoyable working environment. They need to feel welcomed to use your API.

Remember that they too want to make money with your product. Since time is money, they wouldn’t want to waste their time with an API that takes ages to understand and integrate into their app. For that reason, you need to fully explain what your API brings to the table to possible developers.

Step #3: Work on the Design and User Experience

As Nordic API’s Mark Boyd states, a good API is designed with both users and developers in mind. Although the number of users will grow over time, you need to find a way to attract people right from the get goes and lay a solid foundation for your user base.

You’ll be able to set the foundation by deploying a basic development kit. That will get all the developers on the same page and give you API good word-of-mouth. A Software Development Kit strategy allows developers to create apps that seamlessly connect with their APIs.

The use of one of these kits will definitely reduce TTFU (Time to First Use) and allow you to get a good number of users within weeks of deployment. After all – you’re designing the API for human use – so you need to have the interest of developers in mind at all times.

The Next Step is All Up to You

If your app has a good user base and you have a good amount of data on your servers, there’s no reason why developers wouldn’t want to use your API. While the process is not easy – trust us – it will be more than worth it in the end.

We hope you enjoyed our guide and that you found it interesting, as well as useful. If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section below. One of our staff members will get back to you as soon as possible.

About the Author

Adam Ferraresi is a successful web developer from Dallas, Texas. He is twenty three years old, and when he isn’t working on some interesting new article, he enjoys listening to music and watching old movies.