bipolar messaging

Bipolar Messaging:Communicating with Multiple Audiences

tyler hannan

@tylerhannan

http://tylerhannan.com

platform evangelist, ip commerce

wednesday, 1 june 2011

let’s start

at the very beginning

which is,

in fact,

a very good place

to start.

API providers

or

platform providers

are,

often,

called upon to

work withmultiple

audiences.

this,

arguably,

is a

popular definition

of a platform…

serving

a multi-sided

market.

in the case of

these audiences

are

software companies

and

service providers.

within

these audiences,

there

is

finer granularity.

Service Providers

payment service providersacquirers & processorsvalue-added services

Software Companies

point of serviceeCommerce

unattended / kioskmobile

etc.

their needs

are different.

and yet,

their needs,

are complementary.

in the 2nd century,

Arataeus of Cappadocia

worked as a

physician

and wrote a

treatise on disease.

in which

he described,

in frightening detail,

symptoms of various

illnesses.

it was his work,

his diagnosis,

that in 1650

was used by

Richard Burton

to create

a study of

depression,

“The Anatomy of Melancholia”.

Richard Burton

is, now,

known as

“the father of

depression as a

mental illness.”

later,

in 1854,

the condition of

moments of

depression

followed by

heightened mood

became known as

“circular insanity”.

bipolar disorder

what does thishave to do

with

enterprise APIs?

when

messaging

when

discussing

when

telling the story

of your

API

some days you will be

others

or,

as a modern

“enterprise”

reference

or

and,

unlike mental illness,

this is

acceptable.

this is

uncomfortable.

this is

necessary.

this is

desired.

an example:

IP Commerce,

spent the last

2+ years

with the tagline

“cloud computing for commerce”.

to a

payment service provider,

this is ideal,

this is compelling.

to a

software company,

this is

so,

now,

with

“critical mass”

of

service availability

and

API diversity,

we can

discuss

Platform-as-a-Service

or

“operating system”for

commerce.

an analogy

wherein all the

mess

associated with

payment acceptance,

risk & fraud, email receipting, product search, offer

redemption,

data services,

and otherrelated services,

(from multiple providers)

is obfuscated by

a platformand itsAPIs…

just as an

operating system

obfuscates

device level interaction…

to

enable

innovation.

the analogy

“makes sense”

to “us”

but,

to a service provider,

is a bit of foreign language.

another example:

a company

i respect

greatly,

but which will remainunnamed,

had a recent

product release

reviewed.

the software journal

spent a

relatively substantial

amount of time

decrying

“flowery language”

in their press releases.

was the journal wrong?

Yes,

absolutely.

and

No, not at all.

this same

“flowery”

language

speaks to the

other

audiences served.

the challenge,

perhaps

the joy,

in the nature

of the

platform.

in the nature

of the

API provider.

there are

multiple

audiences

who speak

different languages,

and have

different purposes,

the platform

the api provider

is what

enables

their

cooperation.

so…

embrace the neurosis

and recognize that

by bearing the pain

of

communication

you are

enabling innovation.

with that said,

consider

when to

focus.

IP Commerce

has a new

focus

on communicating with

the

software company…

the most

underserved

participant in payments

…at present…

this may shift

in the future

if

/

when

this shift occurs

it will be

painful

and require

site updates

new copy

documentation work.

during this

current

shift

it is painful

but

it is also

necessary.

if it was easy

everyone would do it.

see the little man

running

across the screen?

he is not balanced

one leg

is

up

now,

the other

his imbalance

his instability

indicates

forward motion.

embrace the pain.

own your value.

own your message.

know your audience.

have discussions.

delight

in

bipolar

messaging.

slide #247

With thanks, and apologies,to:Lawrence Lessig

Rolf Skyberg

Written while listening to:Explosions In The Sky, Take Care Take Care Take Care

.::more resources::.

http://commercelab.ipcommerce.com

http://www.tylerhannan.com