Jobs to Be Done identifies the goal, triggering situation, motivation, and expected outcome behind a customer’s use of a product or API. In API design reviews, expressing that job clarifies the API’s business purpose and the consumer task it must support. section 5.2.3
Translate a job into API design inputs:
- Describe the triggering situation and user goal. section 5.2.3
- State the outcome the user expects. section 5.2.3
- Derive the high-level tasks or digital capabilities the API needs to provide. section 5.2.3
Product Catalog API
When I need a product to care for my pet, I want to discover products in the relevant category with quality reviews so I can choose one. This job leads to capabilities for browsing the catalog by category and, later, searching for particular products. section 5.2.3
Table 5.1 Example of an API profile
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Item
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Description
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|---|---|
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API name
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Product Catalog API
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API value proposition
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An API to discover Acme’s great range of products so users can find products to care for their pets
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API consumer
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The end user is a customer browsing Acme Pet Supplies products to make a purchase. Client API developers will use this API to build three end-user channels: the Acme mobile app, the Acme web store, and an affiliate’s store.
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Job stories
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Story 1:
When exploring what products Acme has available, I want to browse the Acme catalog by category so I can find new and exciting pet products that interest me.
Story 2:
When exploring what products Acme has available, I want to search for particular pet products in the Acme catalog so I can view details of the product and decide if I want to buy.
Note: Search catalog capability will be in phase 2.
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Access level
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Public API, made available for use by both Acme-owned digital channels and registered affiliates
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Usage plans
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Acme mobile app: 10 requests a minute
Acme web store: 10 requests a minute
Affiliate stores: 8 requests a minute
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Security model
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API requests should be authorized using OAuth2. We’ll start with the read permission scope for the MVP but will add more scopes as the API functionality is expanded.
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Use the API profile to inspect the consumer, value proposition, job stories, access level, and planned capability scope. section 5.2.3
