Download - History of YDN
Jonathan LeBlancPrincipal Software EngineerYahoo! Developer Network
Twitter: @jcleblancWebsite: http://www.jcleblanc.com
Lessons Learned from Building the Yahoo! Developer Network
What We’re Going to Cover
• The history of YDN and where we are now
• Our technology stack and what we’ve learned from it
• Successes and failures: Our partner strategies
• How we handle developer outreach
• Final lessons
What We’re Going to Cover
• The history of YDN and where we are now
• Our technology stack and what we’ve learned from it
• Successes and failures: Our partner strategies
• How we handle developer outreach
• Final lessons
History of YDN: The Founding (2005)
Funded by Jerry Yang to be the
Yahoo! Technology Backbone
Developer Network launched
Staff of 2 dedicated employees+1 on search
Single product focus (search)
Servers only on the west coast
History of YDN: Year of the Developer (2006)
Developers! Developers! Developers!
Focus on the developer community
20 developer APIs in YDN
The first external hack day is created to foster the culture of hack
History of YDN: Year of the Open Strategy (2008)
Open APIsOpen Source
Social Strategy
Focus on “open and social” development through new platforms and APIs
Renewed focus on Open Source
Strong evangelism and developer outreach programs
Continued growth of Hack
History of YDN: Year of Innovations (2011)
Tech InnovationHack Day
HackU
Focus on fostering internal and external innovations
60+ developer offerings in YDN
Internal and external hack events
HackU program for university innovations
What We’re Going to Cover
• The history of YDN and where we are now
• Our technology stack and what we’ve learned from it
• Successes and failures: Our partner strategies
• How we handle developer outreach
• Final lessons
Technology Stack: Our Products and Services
63 APIs and Toolshttp://developer.yahoo.com/everything.html
Application PlatformsYAP, Connected TV, Desktop Widgets
APIs and Web ServicesYQL, Flickr, Local, Maps, GeoPlanet, Shopping, Social APIs
Business ToolsFinance, BOSS, APT
Communication ToolsMessenger, Mail
Technology Stack: Building a Product Focus
Technology Stack: A Commitment to Open Source
Authentication and Authorization
Platform Technologies
Server and Cloud Technologies
Technology Stack: What We’ve Learned
Abstract out difficult to implement technologies with SDKs.
Focus on several core features of your technology offerings, not the entire stack.
Open source initiatives provide an excellent “get started quickly” technology base.
What We’re Going to Cover
• The history of YDN and where we are now
• Our technology stack and what we’ve learned from it
• Successes and failures: Our partner strategies
• How we handle developer outreach
• Final lessons
Partner Strategies: Integration Success and Failure of Zynga
• First round of “Mafia Wars” as an initial game partner for YAP in 2009. Failed to produce high install rates and difficult to integrate.
• Second integration of “Mafia Wars” and “FishVille” in late 2010. Higher install rates, new viral channels and little integration pain.
Partner Strategies: Failure to Integrate “Company”
• Third round partner integrating with our social services.
• They created their own OAuth implementation since we did not have an appropriate SDK.
• Integration failed near completion of the code.
Partner Strategies: Successful Integration of Mint
• Second round productivity application partner.
• Helped them integrate a high-security model into a low-security transfer platform.
• Highly successful application push.
Partner Strategies: Core Takeaways
Ensure that you have a partner support arm to provide hands-on aid (E-Mail, Skype, Conference calls).
Have tools in place to support development efforts (SDKs, Documentation).
Have a flexible product and release schedule where feedback can be implemented quickly.
What We’re Going to Cover
• The history of YDN and where we are now
• Our technology stack and what we’ve learned from it
• Successes and failures: Our partner strategies
• How we handle developer outreach
• Final lessons
Handling Developer Outreach: Forums
http://developer.yahoo.net/forum
Handling Developer Outreach: Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/ydn
Handling Developer Outreach: Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/yahoodevelopernetwork
Handling Developer Outreach: Takeaways
You need appropriate supportchannels internal to the company.
Developers are your best sourceof bugs and features.
Not all outreach channels can be treated the same way.
What We’re Going to Cover
• The history of YDN and where we are now
• Our technology stack and what we’ve learned from it
• Successes and failures: Our partner strategies
• How we handle developer outreach
• Final lessons
Final Lessons: Takeaways
If you can’t support it, don’t do it.
Support your community where it starts, don’t artificially create one.
Developers are not your enemy.
Learn from your mistakes and your user complaints. Build a better product.
Foster a culture, not a brand.
Questions?
http://www.slideshare.net/jcleblanc/historyofydn
Jonathan LeBlanc
Yahoo! Developer Network
Twitter: @jcleblanc