From Bird’s Nest to Flight Path: A Conversation on Design-First APIs & Blackbird

We’re pleased to share that the "Livin’ on the Edge" podcast is back for a fourth Season after our summer hiatus! We’re kicking off this season just ahead of the GA launch of our new API development platform Blackbird on October 1, 2024. In honor of the occasion, I had the pleasure of guest-hosting a very special guest for this episode.

I sat down with James Higginbotham, founder of Launch Any, author of API Developer Weekly, well-known API expert consultant, and all-around great guy (from what I can tell). We sought James out to be one of the first to test Blackbird and provide valuable feedback. He’s explored it through the lens of his widely-respected approach to helping companies craft and maintain good APIs: ADDR (Align, Define, Design, Refine).

Needless to say, we had a lively conversation about how the API industry is evolving, his experience with Blackbird, and his advice for technology leaders looking to end the last quarter of 2024 on a high note.

We’re Still Unbundling as an Industry

As one the top enterprise API consultants in the space, James highlighted two significant shifts in the industry including the unbundling of API tooling and the growing experimentation with generative AI (GenAI).

A topic we touched on in our API panel in April is this reality that many (if not most) enterprises are grappling with the challenge of managing unwieldy and out-of-date API tools that were traditionally bundled into all-in-one solutions (known as the great unbundling). James emphasized the need for vendors to either provide comprehensive solutions or integrate well with the wider ecosystem, offering flexible tools that cater to varying needs.

"Companies aren’t really excited to deal with unbundling and trying to stitch together a bunch of tools... There's a lot of discussion about whether vendors should deliver an all-in-one solution or play nice with the industry to allow easy integration,” shares Higginbotham.

Design First: Untangling the Birds Nest of Complexity

Along with the unbundling happening, many are moving towards building dedicated API platforms, which provide standardized processes for API design, development, and deployment. The platform-centric approach enables teams to design reusable, scalable APIs that foster collaboration across departments and lines of business.

Now, what James says the heart of this movement is the concept of design-first thinking (we might call that a harmonized platform approach). James shared his long-standing commitment to this approach, urging organizations to prioritize API design to prevent creating redundant or unfit APIs.

“The more you get right up-front, the more time you save on the backend. I've worked with teams that, if they don't spend the time on design, create a bird's nest of complexity,” shares Higginbotham (and you know we love a good bird pun around here).

Shifting to a design-first mindset ensures that APIs are built thoughtfully, bringing together business, product, and development teams in a way that fosters collaboration and efficiency. Instead of rushing into development, teams can use APIs as a foundation for cross-functional dialogue, ensuring that all stakeholders contribute to the success of the API platform.

Higginbotham introduced me to his ADDR process (Align, Define, Design, Refine), which helps developers systematically approach API creation with design in mind. The four-phase process aligns the needs of the business with the API design, ensures thoughtful definition, and incorporates feedback loops early in the lifecycle through mocking and rapid iteration.

From Birds Nest to Flight Path

The past few months, James has been one of the early access users of Blackbird, and he’s been assessing it closely through the ADDR lens (check out his first blog in the series here).

When asked about his experience with Blackbird, Higginbotham highlighted several features that set it apart from other tools.

“Blackbird is starting to overcome the gaps in the API tooling ecosystem. It gives you the ability to mock APIs quickly, get feedback, and avoid costly coding mistakes before implementation even starts,” shares Higginbotham.

Blackbird is designed to provide a cohesive, end-to-end API lifecycle platform that integrates design, mocking, and cataloging all within one environment. The ability to mock APIs quickly enables teams to get feedback early without writing a single line of code, making it easier to refine and iterate designs.

Higginbotham also recognized Blackbird’s GenAI features, which allow teams to input their requirements and rapidly generate API specifications. By automating and speeding up parts of the process, GenAI assistance could potentially revolutionize the way APIs are designed and delivered.

“Using Blackbird’s GenAI, I can take all the insights I’ve gathered and quickly generate an Open API specification, getting me 80-90% of the way there before fine-tuning, it's nice,” shares Higginbotham. “There's a lot of experimentation I've been doing with Gen AI as well, we need to better understand where it fits in the ADDR process. What things do we need to make sure that we continue to have people involved with and what things can we automate and speed up?"

Many organizations are experimenting with AI in their API design, seeking to understand how GenAI can help streamline processes like defining API specifications, generating code, and speeding up development, but few are doing it with the right balance. The recent APIdays 2024 State of the API Industry report stated, “in API design, new tools like Blackbird from Ambassador have been able to enhance API design practices and speed up some of the more tedious tasks required when working through an API design process and converting outputs into an OpenAPI definition."

Time to Soar: Blackbird is GA

I truly appreciate James Higginbotham's insights into the critical importance of API platforms, design-first thinking, and using the right tools—like Blackbird—to simplify the development process. By embracing these principles, companies can reduce technical debt, increase API reuse, and build scalable platforms that support long-term growth.

For more insights from Higginbotham, follow him on LinkedIn or subscribe to his weekly API newsletter at apideveloperweekly.com. He also offers training courses at apicoach.io to help developers and product teams master API design and development. Or you can follow his series on ADDR with Blackbird below:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

And finally, for more podcast insights, check out our other episodes from the past seasons.