Developer Portals: From MVP to Strategy

By Kristof Van Tomme

Elevator Pitch

In this talk I walk through the most important features a developer portal needs, and explain what documentation types you need to be able to deliver a great developer experience. After exploring the different types of API docs, I introduce 4 strategy archetypes and the feature sets they require.

Description

What is a good MVP for a dev portal? What are the most important features you should implement on a developer portal? Should you choose a CMS or a static site generator? What is docs like code and why are documentarians so crazy about it?

In this talk I walk through the most important features you need in a developer portal, and explain what documentation types you need to be able to deliver a great developer experience. After exploring the different types of API docs, I introduce 4 strategy archetypes and the feature sets they require.

With this talk I want to help participants avoid the most frequent technology and documentation stumbling blocks they might encounter when implementing a developer portal.

Notes

This is the 3rd year that together with my team, I’ve been doing research into what makes a great developer portal, and what kind of documentation APIs need. I will do the talk with a Bingo sheet (yes you get the Bingo even if you choose this talk :D), that has loads of facts about API docs, a handy hand-out for anybody working on a dev portal. Oh, and I’m bringing Belgian chocolates…