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API Center for Enablement and CraftWorx tackle the Complex World of APIs at Discover

Yinnette Olivo

Lead User Researcher

This case study focuses on the recent project undertaken at the API Center at Discover Financial Services. Despite the center serving its intended purpose, feedback from discovery user interviews indicated several limitations in functionality, prompting a need for an overhaul.

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The Vision

Discover Business  Technology & API Center for Enablement stakeholders envision the API Center as a dynamic, user-centric environment that empowers both consumers and providers with seamless access to tools and information necessary for their success. The API Center will become a cornerstone of innovation at Discover Financial Services, where intuitive design meets advanced functionality to create a space that enhances collaboration, speeds up development cycles, and drives productivity.

The Challenge

The challenge I faced in this project was tackling the significant issues that users experienced with the existing API Center at Discover Financial Services. Users were frustrated with the limited functionality, poor discoverability, and cumbersome navigation, which made it difficult for them to achieve their goals efficiently. Additionally, the lack of integration with other essential tools and the inefficiency of the testing processes created barriers that hindered their productivity and satisfaction.

My challenge wasn’t just about identifying these pain points, but also diving deep to understand their root causes. I needed to devise a comprehensive solution that would transform the API Center into an intuitive, efficient, and collaborative environment. 

Discovery Audit

User Interviews

Stakeholder Debrief

Persona Development

Journey Mapping

Feature Finding

Whiteboarding

The Task

Deliver an end-to-end user experience strategy that transform the API Center into a seamless, user-centric platform that enhances functionality and collaboration for all of Discover's engineers and their external partners.

The Personas

Ronald Rodriguez, a developer at Discover, is searching for a secure payment processing API for a new project. During his search, Savanah Samson, an API engineer, informs him that she is in the process of publishing a new, secure payment API. Once Savanah completes the publishing process, ensuring all necessary documentation and security checks are in place, Ronald receives an automatic notification from the API Center. He promptly requests access through the platform, and after his request is approved, Ronald is able to seamlessly integrate the API into his project.

Also, known as the giver, the person whose task requires them to
produce APIs to a secure Discover-approved environment where
others are able to consume. The provider’s primary priorities revolve around creating an API, publishing and maintaining.

Goals:

  • Quickly and efficiently publish an API
  • Enter all of the API information to ease discoverability
  • Attach Swagger doc to ensure correct consummation
  • Deliver guidance and policy around use of their API
  • Communicate with team or consumer regarding any questions
  • Approve access for consumption of API
  • Publish updates 26 and maintain API

Also, known as the seeker, the person whose task requires them to find an secure Discover-approved API. The consumers primary priorities revolve around searching, consuming and maintaining their app.

Goals

  • Search for possible APIs that are able to fit their needs
  • Find the correct API that will serve them correct info
  • Test the API to ensure functionality and reliability
  • Request permission to use API
  • Communicate with the provider of the API for any additional info
  • Follow recommended policy and guidelines on the use of the API
  • Ensure that his solution is scalable and can be easily updated

The Results

After implementing the redesigned API Center, I observed a substantial improvement in user experience and efficiency. The new API Workspace offered a streamlined interface, allowing users to quickly access tasks and tools, which enhanced their workflow significantly. The integration with the DTA Design Language ensured a consistent and recognizable experience across platforms. The new consumer experience, highlighted by API cards with real-time updates on API status and enhanced search functionalities, made it easier for developers to find and evaluate APIs. Features like the ability to preview API responses and filter search results by tags streamlined the discovery process.

For providers, the introduction of reusable templates and governance mechanisms ensured that APIs were published with complete and accurate details. The sandbox environment allowed for thorough testing before publishing, which minimized errors and improved overall API quality. The improved API information structure, with detailed documentation and lifecycle status updates, provided consumers with the necessary insights to make informed decisions. The new team space fostered collaboration and peer-driven development, leading to more effective and efficient API management.

Overall, these enhancements led to increased engagement, faster integration times, and higher satisfaction among both API consumers and providers, setting a new standard for API management at Discover Financial Services.

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Hire me and start your journey to a better product experience!

What is Yinnette's background history and education?

I am a user experience researcher, product strategist, and design leader with a focus on enterprise service design. With 24 years of experience, I began my career as an engineer and transitioned into digital product design, eventually specializing in product strategy and user experience research, where I’ve been for the past 14 years.

My expertise lies primarily in enterprise environments, often working on the agency or service design side. I’ve focused on developing internal productivity and efficiency products, such as hiring solutions, HR systems, and employee resource repositories. My user base has predominantly been employees within these organizations. My skill set includes developing comprehensive solutions for new product rollouts, company pilots, product improvements, and digital transformations for existing solutions, serving user bases of up to 100,000 or more.

I studied Web Design then Visual Communications at the International Academy for Design and Technology based in Tampa. I have a  certification in Design Thinking from the Luma Institute. I received formal training in Six Sigma and hold a Green Belt certification from The New York Times and PM1 from Cardinal’s Agile Program.  

My process involves independent research, participant recruitment, session planning, design thinking workshops, focused ideation sessions, wireframing, and creating high-fidelity designs. I also support product owners in feature refinement and collaborate with engineering teams to QA the experience, ensuring the features align with my research and business requirements.

Most recently, I worked at Discover but was laid off earlier this year due to Capital One’s acquisition of the company. I am now seeking my next opportunity, ideally in service design, which is my passion. I am excited to find a company where I can continue to make a lasting impact.

Most recently, I consulted for a startup called Muzes. At Muzes, I joined the team as the Director of UX to lead their UX team, which grew into having a much larger role and leading product strategy. Muzes is an AI-assisted generative procurement platform, akin to LinkedIn for procurement. Procurement teams can generate extensive questionnaires for their suppliers, who create profiles and respond to these questionnaires. The platform uses AI, including sentiment analysis and LLMs, to grade and score the responses.

I made significant contributions to the product strategy, assisting the engineering team and stakeholders in documenting all features. I conducted extensive research with design partners and discovered that the product being built was quite different from the original plan. I helped realign the entire team with the new product direction and led the design team in creating a custom design system that matched the new goals. I also helped engineering focus on delivering a more attainable MVP. 

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Tampa, FL USA

me@yinnette.com

1 (559) 500-4231‬

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