Applying the Cognitive Dimensions of API Usability to Improve API Documentation Planning

Abstract

This interactive poster explores the application of the 12 cognitive dimensions of API usability to API documentation planning by using the dimensions to identify and characterize the factors that influence the documentation that the users of an API require. Many factors can complicate estimating and planning the documentation an API requires. Even when an API's documentation requirements can be estimated, it can be difficult to present to stakeholders an objective basis for the estimate. The cognitive dimensions of API usability have characterized APIs and their users successfully and they have been used to communicate these characterizations to stakeholders. It follows that the same dimensions could also help identify the documentation that an API requires to provide a satisfactory and successful experience for the software developers who use the API.