API First: Collaborative Web API Design

3-day Workshop

This API First Design hands-on workshop presents a design process that is flexible to meet the needs of a single API product or mid-to-large scale enterprise API platform. It combines an outside-in design approach coupled with techniques used in Domain-Driven Design (DDD). The process focuses on the delivery of business value with a customer-centric focus.

An API design that looks good to the designer may not be the best design to solve real-world problems. Following an API design process encourages communication within the organization and between the organization and the developers ultimately tasked with integrating the API.

The workshop is designed for product managers, architects, and developers responsible for designing and delivering internal or public web APIs.

Check our public class schedule for the next scheduled workshop!

James Higginbotham

Learn more from Vaughn Vernon and James in this episode of the  Add Dot podcast.

Workshop Highlights

  • Create alignment of understanding and scope across business, product, and technology
  • Implement collaborative techniques such as job stories, big picture EventStorming, and activity mapping
  • Map business and customer requirements into digital capabilities that will form the basis of one or more APIs to deliver the desired outcomes
  • Identify bounded contexts and implement context mapping to identify APIs, organize teams, and encourage reuse
  • Create a high-level REST-based API design for each identified API to meet the desired outcomes identified during alignment
  • Document the API design using the OpenAPI Specification (OAS)
  • Ensure successful delivery by using various prototyping and mocking techniques to identify and address design issues early
Fran Fabrizio
IT Director - Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation - U of Minnesota
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I think last week was one of the most productive weeks we've had as a team in years. Every day before and after training there were small huddles of staff talking about this stuff, as well as some late night Slack conversations about APIs.
Scott Dodson
Director, IT - Hilton
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His focus on the "big picture" (the end-user's perspective) was key to our success
Kelly-Ann Pinnock
Product Owner, Subway/IPC Cooperative
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I’ve heard really positive feedback from the team, and especially from our business stakeholders on the API session. They found it hugely valuable.
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This training course is for you because…

This training emphasizes not only the technical details of designing an API, but also the skills and processes necessary to incorporate non-technical concerns when designing an API. Product managers as well as experienced developers will learn to think of API design from an outcome-based perspective, all in a collaborative format.

Adopting an API Design-First Approach

What is API design first?  How can the Align-Define-Design-Refine process help guide your organization? James explains here.

What is different about this training?

The workshop goes beyond API design fundamentals often found in self-paced, video-based training subscriptions. Attendees receive instructor-led guidance on API designs throughout all exercises. They will also gain the understanding of how to incorporate collaborative API design throughout their day-to-day processes.

Add Dot Podcast: Web API Strategy and Design to Deliver Value

Vaughn Vernon and James Higginbotham discuss APIs and how startups and large companies benefit from his work.

Principles of Web API Design: Delivering Value with APIs and Microservices

By James Higginbotham

Ready To Get Started?

View James Higginbotham’s video on Refining Your API: The Last Mile of API Design from WPS in Hamburg, Germany May 12, 2023.
Click here to view more videos from this event.

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DDD Aggregates, Domain Events, and Value Objects

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by James Higginbotham