A team may be ready to build an API without agreeing on who needs it or why. The APIOps Cycles method is a collaborative, lean approach to creating API solutions and developing API strategies. It begins with business needs and the business model the API should support, helping stakeholders decide which APIs to build, how to design new ones, and how to improve existing ones. section 5.2.3
The method has eight phases. Its opening phases establish the API’s value and its path to consumers:
- Business first with API canvas: use an API value proposition canvas, API business model canvas, and customer journey maps to align stakeholders on target consumers, benefits, development costs, and effects on revenue. section 5.2.3
- Mind the developer experience: decide how intended consumers will discover and use the API, and how the organization will support a developer community. section 5.2.3
This business-first work complements, rather than replaces, APIOps delivery automation. Automated checks can enforce defined API standards, while human review remains important for design questions that checks cannot settle. section 1.0 section 1.7
Figure 5.4 An API value proposition canvas for the Products Catalog API. The Product Catalog API fetches the data it needs from the internal APIs of the Products, Catalog, and Reviews microservices.
The Product Catalog API value proposition canvas illustrates how consumer needs and an API solution can be mapped before implementation. section 5.2.3
