User experience is crucial for APIs, as it directly impacts how easily developers can integrate, utilize, and build upon the provided functionality, ultimately determining the success and adoption of the platform. But how do we ensure that our APIs are genuinely user-friendly?
One powerful solution we’ve found at Wix is to work with design partners - external developers who collaborate with our teams early in the API design process. These partnerships not only improve the usability of our APIs but also elevate the quality of our entire product.
Here’s a closer look at why API usability matters, how design partners contribute to our success, and why this collaborative approach is becoming integral to our development process.
Why API Usability Matters
Usability is just as critical for developers building integrations as it is for our site owners building websites and managing businesses. A well-designed API is intuitive and minimizes friction, making it easy to build integrations without extensive troubleshooting or trial and error.
When an API has high usability it results in:
Greater Adaptability: Developers can more easily adapt APIs for new features or workflows, supporting the expansion of our open platform.
Faster Onboarding: Developers can quickly grasp how to use the API, reducing the time spent on troubleshooting.
Increased Satisfaction: When developers find it easy to use our APIs, they enjoy working with our platform, and even find ways to use it more.
The Power of Design Partners
Working with design partners transforms API usability from an internal assumption to an externally validated reality. These external developers bring a fresh perspective, exploring APIs with unique workflows and specialized use cases that our teams might not anticipate. Through early-stage feedback, they often uncover issues, gaps, or areas for improvement that make our APIs stronger and more versatile.
By enlisting design partners, we’re able to:
Gain Real-World Insights: Design partners apply our APIs in live projects with actual users. This allows us to identify potential pain points or hidden bugs before an API is publicly launched.
Expand Testing Beyond Our Own Scenarios: Even with rigorous internal testing, it’s impossible to cover every scenario. Design partners think outside of the expected flows and can spot unique issues, especially when users push the boundaries of our APIs.
Enhance Usability for Niche Use Cases: Design partners often work in niche markets with specific, sometimes complex, requirements. Their feedback helps us make our APIs flexible enough to serve a broad range of needs.
Real-World Impact: A Case Study with Multiorders
To illustrate the value of design partners, let’s look at a real-world example. Imagine you’re a developer at Wix working on a new inventory management feature for Wix Stores. You envision the happy path where site owners create products, manage inventory variants (such as size and color), and automatically adjust stock levels when orders are placed or canceled. After testing this flow internally, you feel confident that everything works smoothly.
But then, one of your design partners, Multiorders, takes the API for a spin in a way you hadn’t fully anticipated. They tested what would happen if, after an order is placed, a site owner added a new variant, and then the customer canceled their order. This unexpected combination uncovered a significant bug that could have led to serious confusion for site owners.
This is exactly what happened at Wix - not only did Multiorders catch this bug, but they provided us with detailed insights on how they found it, their attempts to work around it, and recommendations for fixing it. This gave our team everything they needed to resolve the issue quickly and effectively, long before site owners could be affected.
This level of testing, driven by the partner’s own business needs, goes beyond what we typically cover in internal testing. By revealing unexpected scenarios and edge cases, design partners help us deliver a better, more robust product.
Benefits of Working with Design Partners
Working with design partners doesn’t just improve our APIs; it strengthens our entire development process. Some of the key benefits include:
Optimized Development Process: By addressing issues early, we save valuable time and resources that would otherwise be spent on fixes and costly redesigns.
Improved Product Fit: Design partners ensure that our APIs align with real-world usage, resulting in products that are better suited to the needs of both developers and end-users.
Long-Term Efficiency: Focusing on usability and extensibility minimizes the chances of needing to write a new API for this feature in the near future.
This blog post was written based on Aliza's Wix Engineering Conference 2023's talk "Think You’ve Built a Kick-ass Product? Think Again". Watch it here:
Building a Collaborative Development Culture
Several teams at Wix already rely on design partners for major releases, and the benefits of these collaborations are clear. By working closely with external developers who depend on our APIs, we create a better fit for real-world applications and enhance our platform’s flexibility. As one member of our eCommerce team noted, “We always prefer to develop capabilities with a design partner, as it guarantees better API product fit.”
Getting Started with Design Partners
If you’re involved in API development and want to improve usability and product fit, consider integrating design partners into your workflow. Start by identifying external developers or companies whose needs align with your API’s goals. Enlist them early in the design process, invite their feedback, and encourage open communication. Over time, these partnerships can become invaluable sources of insights, helping you make APIs that are truly useful and robust.
Conclusion
The role of design partners in API development is invaluable. By involving them early and often, we not only elevate our API usability but also create products that are resilient, flexible, and adaptable to diverse user needs. Design partners help us catch potential issues before they affect users, streamline complex workflows, and build APIs that meet real-world demands.
As we continue to expand Wix’s open platform, design partners will remain essential to our success, allowing us to innovate, iterate, and improve more effectively. The next time you’re working on a major release, consider reaching out to potential design partners - they may just be the key to making your APIs exceptional.
This post was written by Aliza Solomon
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