API Documentation – Bret Schwalb

Modernizing the Discover Network Partner Portal

The work discussed here is part of the larger partner resources and onboarding solution project. The goal of our project was to transform a fragmented legacy experience into a high-utility, mobile-first, and WCAG compliant platform for both engineers and business leaders.

The Challenge & Strategic Context

The primary challenge for this portion of the project was to modernize the presentation of

15 + high profile and

90+ future APIs, while improving the client's ease of implementation. The secondary challenge was reducing technical and compliance debt across the entire partner resources site. There were two key personas:

Technical Decision-Makers (Engineers): Needed concise, easily consumable documentation for rapid integration.
Business Decision-Makers (Leaders): Required a clear, high-level understanding of the API's value proposition and integration path.

My Role & Key Design Strategy

As Principal UX/UI Product Designer, I was key in establishing the vision for the experience and drove the design and content strategy. My strategy focused on engineer-centered utility and speed to market:

Content Refactoring: Led the design and usability testing to refactor existing documentation into an accurate and scannable experience, meeting the needs of an audience of international engineers.
Dual-Audience Viewport Design: Designed templates that specifically supported both mobile and tablet views:
Mobile View: Optimized to provide business leaders quick, high-level context on the go.
Tablet View: Optimized for developers who often reference documentation on tablets or their phone while coding.
Foundational Template System: The core solution was creating a set of flexible page templates along with a content collection template. This approach allowed API teams rapid, low-effort migration of their APIs with minimal design intervention.
Cross-Functional collaboration: Partnered closely with Product, Engineering, and API owners to ensure the final templates met end-user needs, global legal standards, and technical constraints.

The Outcome: Design Velocity & Accessibility

The solution established a reusable, accessible foundation that achieved the following:

Accelerated Migration: The template approach allowed for the rapid migration of all existing APIs and deployment of future APIs with minimal design intervention.

Reduced Friction: Achieved the goal of providing more self-service experience for both user groups, while maintaining the "white glove" treatment they expect.

Established Compliance: Successfully delivered a solution that is WCAG AA accessible, significantly reducing compliance risk.

Scalable Architecture: Created a design system that future-proofs the entire partner resources site that this is a part of, ensuring all subsequent API launches and future enhancements use the same templates with minimal design cost.