The document discusses how to build API products that customers and organizations love. It recommends using a Value Proposition Interface (VPI) canvas to understand customer needs and identify how APIs can address pains or problems. An API product canvas can then be used to align the API product to business goals and key metrics. The presentation provides a real-world example of using these canvases to develop an API product for assisted transportation that creates new revenue streams for healthcare organizations and helps more patients attend medical appointments.

1. BUILDING API PRODUCTSTHAT
CUSTOMERSAND YOUR
ORGANIZATIONLOVE
Amancio Bouza
APIDays Interface, June 30th – July 2nd 2020, World

2. @AmancioBouza
Amancio Bouzainspirational, inclusive, impactful
Co-Author of API Product Management
• Principal IT Consultant
• Advisor for API-First Startups
2
amanciobouza
@amancio.bouza
amanciobouza.com

3. IKEA Spreitenbach,
Switzerland
3

4. Usual furniture store
presents furnitures
Type: Chair
Color: Green/White
Size: 54x62x98
Weight: 2kg
Price: $50
4 talented photographer: Amancio

5. IKEA presents what
you can become
Become organized
Accessibility to
resources
Save space or get
workplace when
needed
5 very talented photographer: Amancio

6. Many companies sell the thing...
6

7. Customers buy what they’ll become
7

8. The API is the key to
access the power
8

9. API is the interface to
a value proposition.
9 Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/api-dead-long-live-vpi-amancio-bouza/

10. API Product is a
Digital Product-as-a-Service that
provides value to a group of people
and the organization
10

11. Ovierview of API Product Management
11
1. Desirability:
Does the customer want it?
2. Viability:
Should we build it?
3. Feasibility:
Can we build it? (not in scope of this
talk)

12. Desirability
Does the customer
want it?
12

13. Real example:
Revenue model of NGO’s Assisted Transport
End-customer: Orders ride to
medical appointment from
association.
Association: Coordinates volunteers
and assigns volunteers to driving
jobs.
Volunteer: Drives the customer to
the destination and back again.
Agency: Provides the assisted
transport application to the
association.
13

14. DESIGN SPRINT
Identify the pains of stakeholders
14

15. 15
PAIN POINT:
RAPPORTS
Drivers fill out multiple rapport
forms for each transport

16. 16
PAIN POINT:
RAPPORTS
Employees enter rapports
into applications

17. Providing a desirable solution:
Digitalized Revenue model of Assisted Transport
End-customer: Orders ride to
medical appointment from
association.
Association: Coordinates volunteers
and assigns volunteers to driving
jobs.
Volunteer: Drives the customer to
destination and again. Uses
reporting mobile app.
Agency: Provides assisted transport
application and digitalized reporting
process.
17

18. Can we do something for the organization?
18

19. “3.6 million Americans miss their
medical appointments due to
a lack of reliable
transportation”
19
Uber Health
Source: https://www.uberhealth.com/about

20. 0.085 M miss appointment in Switzerland
$135/15min cost of missed appointment
$11.5 M total loss because of missed appointments
Source: https://www.expatistan.com/price/doctor/zurich
20
USA
Population: 327.2 M
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
SWITZERLAND
Population: 8.5 M
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland
3.6 M miss appointment in the USA =>
Source: https://www.uberhealth.com/about

21. Creating a new revenue stream besides donations:
API Product-based Revenue Model
Healthcare organization: Uses APIs to
order rides.
End-customer: Gets a ride to his medical
appointment.
Association: Coordinates volunteers and
assigns volunteers to driving jobs.
Volunteer: Drives the customer to
destination and again. Uses reporting
mobile app.
Agency: Provides API to healthcare
organizations. It provides the assisted
transport application and digitalized
reporting process to the association.
21

22. How do you find the right API product?
22

23. VPI Canvas (Value
Proposition Interface Canvas)
It’s about the flow that connects
Customer Profile with Value
Proposition Interface Map.
Consider how each box talks to
each other and not thinking of
each one as a separate lists.
Preparation is key
Diverse perspectives matter!
23
Source: https://medium.com/api-product-management/value-proposition-interface-canvas-d60fa7553d23
Inspired by Value Proposition Canvas from Alex Osterwalder

24. VPI Canvas (Value
Proposition Interface Canvas)
It’s about the flow that connects
Customer Profile with Value
Proposition Interface Map.
Consider how each box talks to
each other and not thinking of
each one as a separate lists.
Preparation is key
Diverse perspectives matter!
24
Source: https://medium.com/api-product-management/value-proposition-interface-canvas-d60fa7553d23
Inspired by Value Proposition Canvas from Alex Osterwalder

25. Customer Profile
1. Identify the customer & collect jobs-to-
get-done
Draw revenue model
Leverage existing B2B partnerships (ecosystem)
2. Identify pains to get jobs done
Validate with customers
25

26. Value Proposition Interface
Map
3. List available data sources, applications,
business processes, 3rd-party APIs
Get diverse perspectives by involving relevant
stakeholders.
4. Create pain relievers
Define HOW pain is relieved, not which pain
End pain reliever with a noun
5. Formulate API name
Relate name to value proposition26

27. VPI Canvas for Transport Management
27 Source: https://medium.com/api-product-management/value-proposition-interface-canvas-d60fa7553d23
Inspired by Value Proposition Canvas from Alex Osterwalder
Healthcare
organization
heal patients
during
appointmentPatients are
late and
delay other
appointments
Assisted
Transport
infrastructrur
e
Transport
coordination
system
ready-to-
order patient
transport
Transport
API

28. How a real result may
look like
Documented
understanding of
customer
Fast MVP
Large API portfolio
relieve more pains
Reuse of existing assets
Ready to be validated!
28
IMG_20190725_115539.jpg

29. VPI canvas helps to find
and validate the
problem-solution fit
29
Source: https://medium.com/api-product-management/value-proposition-interface-canvas-d60fa7553d23
Inspired by Value Proposition Canvas from Alex Osterwalder

30. BUILDING API PRODUCTSTHAT
CUSTOMERSAND YOUR
ORGANIZATIONLOVE

31. BUILDING API PRODUCTSTHAT
CUSTOMERSAND YOUR
ORGANIZATIONLOVE

32. Viability
Should we build it?
32

33. Create the Vision of the
API product
33
API Product Canvas
Inspired by Lean
Canvas
Get product/market-
fit after
problem/solution-fit

34. 34
Pains Customer
Pain Reliever +
Assets
APIs
VPI Canvas provides
synergizes with API
Product Canvas

35. Business Goals
35
Pains Customer
Pain Reliever +
Assets
APIs
Link API product to
corporate strategy
Show its benefits
Gets management
buy-in (at least less
resistence)
Help more
people more
New revenue
streams
besides
donations

36. Key Metrics (KPI)
36
Pains Customer
Pain Reliever +
Assets
APIs
KPI that shows best how
API product delivers on
value proposition
Goal: Improve the API
product
Help more
people more
New revenue
streams
besides
donations
% of missed
appointments

37. Be like IKEA:
Use your assets and show your
value proposition
API is the interface to a value proposition
API product is a digital product-as-a-service that provides value to a group of people and the
organization
VPI canvas: Understand customers and how you can help -> Build desirable API product
API product canvas: Align to corporate strategy. Measure the right KPI -> Build viable API product
37

38. API Product Management
Product Strategy and Execution for the Digital Economy
The API Product Management book is the
state-of-the-art guide to creating,
launching, and running API products that
customers love. In this book, we offer best-
practices, tactical and practical
approaches, and real-world examples. It
helps you to adapt it in your context.
38
http://api-as-a-product.com/

39. @AmancioBouza
Amancio Bouzainspirational, inclusive, impactful
Co-Author of API Product Management
• Principal IT Consultant
• Advisor for API-First Startups
39
amanciobouza
@amancio.bouza
amanciobouza.com