The State of Developer Education Reducing Onboarding Friction for Developers with Jordan Violet and Colin McKibben
Sep 15, 2023
Jordan Violet, Head of Developer Relations at SailPoint, and Colin McKibben, Developer Advocate also at SailPoint, share their transformative journeys into DevRel. They discuss the vital need for frictionless onboarding and open access to resources in developer education. Introducing the Developer’s Hierarchy of Needs, they illustrate how to enhance developer experience through community engagement. Their insights also explore establishing an API guild for better standards and the importance of mentorship in tech.
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From Frustration To DevRel Role
- Jordan found DevRel after spotting a blog post and later pitched it at FireEye when API docs frustrated him.
- His boss gave him a chance and he attended DevRelCon to learn on the job.
Start By Diagnosing Developer Friction
- Improving developer experience starts by understanding why current resources are the way they are.
- Treat developers as decision-makers and prioritize API usability and integration needs.
Create An API Guild And Automate Linting
- Form an API guild with representatives from each engineering team to standardize APIs.
- Automate checks with a linter so specs follow guidelines without manual PR review.