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A crucial issue for any organization launching an API is developer adoption. However, while many organizations spend considerable resources in technical solutions, support functions and license agreements they may neglect investigating why developers want to work with their APIs. In his work, Daniel has studied (mainly unpaid) developers using APIs through some 50 in-depth interviews, analyzed around 60 hours of video and performed focused usability studies on APIs for his clients. To explain his findings he points theories of motivational psychology and software platform research.
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Why (unpaid) developers use APIs
(and what you can do about it)
Daniel Rudmark Viktoria Swedish ICT / University of Borås
Previous API Experience• Research Partners
• Swedish Transport Administration, Stockholm Public Transport, City of Gothenburg, National Association of Public Transport Companies
• Methods
• Interviews (50+), Video Observation, Action Design Research
• Projects
• Trafiklab.se, TravelHack, Swedish API License, Open API for the Swedish Transport Administration
[Extrinsic] [Intrinsic]Money
User needs
Signaling
Learning
Reciprocity
Status
Fun/”Flow”
Professional and personal identity
Autonomy
Problem solving
Source: Boudreau, K. J., & Lakhani, K. R. (2009). How to manage outside innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 50(4), sid. 69–75.
Self-Determination Theory
• Widely accepted theory of human motivation
• Has been used in education, health care, work motivation etc.
• Deals with what facilitates and sustains motivations (and what hinders it)
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.
Autonomy
• The universal urge to be causal agents of one’s own life
• Need to feel in control of their own behaviors and goals
• Outside control will decrease motivation
Feelings of Competence
• Seek to control the outcome and experience mastery
• Positive feedback on competence is key
• (But different people have different degrees of competence…)
Autonomy and License Terms
0
750
1500
2250
3000
No of Developers
2 200
27
Restrictive License Terms
Open License Terms
–Anonymous Developer
”We came to meet the company and started talking. It was of course long, big contracts with many things we had to
sign. ‘You may only use it for a travel planner’ and all that. I felt that it was much about trying to protect so that someone
else not could get the data, you were not allowed to store anything on the user’s phone and so on. It prevented me
from doing stuff that I wanted to do!”
Feelings of Competence and REST Endpoints
(the good)
Open API Swedish Transport Administration (iteration 1)
Autonomy and REST Endpoints
(the bad)
Easy but limited
• List stations (by name or position)
• List departures/arrivals (by station name or id)
• Get a specific train
”I want to list all trains departing from Uppsala to Stockholm”
”I want to monitor if a certain train is late”
–Experienced Developer
”Before I saw the API I didn’t even hope that it would be this good. It was very easy to work
with, it has a lot of potential!”
But what about developers with a lesser degree of
mastery..?
Final Take-Aways• Does your third-party developers rely solely on
business cases/revenue sharing?
• If not, make sure that your third-party developers, after working with your API experience
• Autonomy
• Feelings of Competence
• Initiate Third-Party Developer feedback loops!
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