Why APIs are important for Product Managers ?
In most cases , business people sees Product Managers as a techie guy & engineering teams think that PMs are “managers” with incompetent skills in software development.
On a lighter note, PMs are misconstrued to have a fondness for just pretentious notepads , chic dresses & user metrics however PM are expected to hone their technology skills as well so as to complete the holy trinity of technology , business & design.
In this post , I will share across what APIs are & why it is important for PMs .
Defining APIs
API stands for Application Programming Interface . APIs enable two systems to communicate with each other. APIs can also be described as a contract between two systems & API documentation lays out the terms of the contract.
A very basic example could be of using the Netflix API , one can request the list of latest TV series released last week.
Importance of APIs for Product Managers
In order to fast track additional features , functionality & tools which might require years to build, PMs often integrate their product with 3rd Party APIs.
This is the most common and important use case for Product Managers in their professional journey.
Majority of the products leverage integrations with the APIs in many ways.
The most commonly available open APIs used by millions of products around the globe are :-
- Google Maps API
- YouTube API
- Twitter API
- Google Calendar API
Let’s deep dive further taking Ola as an example .
Let’s say Ola uses several APIs to deliver its service, few of them are pretty obvious as well.
- The Google Maps API : It is used to display the map which can be used to select the pickup location & destination location. The Google logo is apparent on the map as well.
- The Twilio API is generally used to communicate with the riders & share information about their journey “ Your driver is coming in 5 mins “, etc.
- The Braintree API which is usually integrated for processing rider payments using multiple payment methods such as Credit Card/Debit Card ,etc.
However, there are few Pros & Cons of integrating the 3rd party APIs.
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