Dev Portals Research

Goals

• Explore principles behind the best dev portals in the fintech industry.
• Find patterns that can be used to build a new dev portal or significantly improve the existing one.
• Look for uncommon things to implement in a fresh dev portal.

Participants (66)

The participants of research include dev portals, API documentation, etc. of big companies and fintech/blockchain industries:

• Crypto Exchanges: Binance, Coinbase Pro, Kraken, Bitmex, Huobi, OKex, Upbit, Bitfinex, HitBTC, ZB.com, Bittrex.
• Blockchains: Binance Chain, Libra, Dash, Klaytn, Ethereum, EOSIO.
• Crypto Wallets: Coinbase, Trezor, Ledger, Electrum, Copay, Blockchain.info, Parity, imToken, MetaMask.
• DeFi: ChainLink, Ox, MakerDAO, Matic, Kyber Network, Uniswap, Synthetics, Compound, Iconomi, Polymath, Aave, DeFiZap, IDEX, Bancor.
• E-wallets/Payment Gateways: WeChat, Alipay, Paytm, Omise, Stripe, Bitgo, Square, Maybank QR Pay, Zalo Pay, Grab Pay, Google Pay, Ingenico ePayments, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Paypal, Revolut.
• Stock Exchanges (or services that can provide data from them): NASDAQ, Alpha Vantage, UniBit, Quandl, Deutsche Bourse.
• GAFAM: Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft.

Documentation

Patterns

• Explanation on what the product or network can do (capabilities, functionalities). Samples: Coinbase Pro, Binance Chain.
• Security best practices. Samples: Coinbase Pro, Omise, Ledger.
• Guides include code samples, instead of user UI walkthrough. Samples: Coinbase Pro, Binance Chain, Trezor, Ledger, Electrum, Instagram, Microsoft.

Binance Chain

• Code samples in guides include Example output and explain What's happening in a short paragraph, instead of a step-by-step process. Sample: Dash, Libra.

Dash

• If this is a blockchain, there's a guide on how to set up your own node. Samples: Binance Chain, Libra, ChainLink.
• Each smart contract is described in details, including intro, the purpose of all functions, reference to Github, etc. Sample: MakerDAO, Synthtics, Compound, Bancor.

MakerDAO

Kyber Network

• Build your first app. Sample: Matic, Amazon AWS, Android, Microsoft.

Amazon AWS

• Clear structure of content for SDK explanation. Samples: Paytm, Square, Zalo Pay, Google Pay, Facebook.

Square

Uncommon/Cool Things

• A list of official and community libraries. Samples: Coinbase Pro.
• Notifications for updates or usage of certain API endpoints. Samples: Coinbase Pro.
• Guides include the level of difficulty. Samples: Coinbase Pro, 0x.
• Licenses for all open-source software. Samples: Coinbase Pro.
• Developer Agreement (Terms). Samples: Coinbase Pro, Bitfinex.
• Highlights on specific parts of the app/website. Samples: Binance Chain, Klatn, Facebook.

Binance Chain

Klaytn

• A separate section for community: open principles, contribution guide, coding guidelines, bug reporting. Samples: Libra.
• The entire payment flow UI is described in 2 paragraphs and 2 images. Instead, the focus is put on the code. Samples: Omise.

Omise

• A single page to explain the entire js library without compromising on an explanation of core features. Samples: Omise, Stripe.
• Specific features of this particular blockchain/network (built-in governance, privacy, etc.). Samples: Dash.
• A separate page for wallets that a network has. Samples: Dash.
• A document on how the law applies to the network. Samples: Dash.
• Integration guides for Android and iOS. Samples: TrustWallet.
• Every function has a Logic explanation where it shows what happens if you execute this particular function. Sample: 0x.

0x

• A full-stack Dapp (Airbnb). Sample: Matic.
• Application Binary Interface (ABI). Sample: Kyber Network, Compound.

Kyber Network

• A very neat table for network connections. Samples: Compound.

Compound

• Security page with smart contract audits, formal verification, economic security, bug bounty program. Samples: Compound.

Compound

• Code samples in Solidity and Web3. Samples: Aave.

Aave

• Sequence Chart for payment flow. Samples: WeChat.

WeChat

• If there are multiple ways to do the same thing (via APIs or Dashboard for instance), it is divided into tabs. Samples: Paytm.

Paytm

• Cool landing page for SDK that explains the benefits of using this product. Samples: Square.
• Integration Checklist. Samples: Google Pay.

Google Pay

• A good way to explain lifecycles. Samples: Android.

Android

• Getting Started guides for SDKs. Samples: Facebook.
• A plugin that shows open and closed Github issues. Samples: Microsoft.

Microsoft

API

Patterns

• Infinite scroll page with auto-expandable hierarchy of document's structure on the left and request/response objects on the right. One of the tools used is Slate. Samples: Coinbase Pro, Stripe, Binance, Huobi, OKex, Upbit, HitBTC, ZB.com, Bittrex, Coinbase Custody, imToken, NASDAQ.

Binance

• Change Log. Samples: Binance, Bitmex, Huobi, Bitfinex, Bitgo

Huobi

• Clear examples of requests and response bodies. Samples: Coinbase Pro.

Coinbase Pro

• Code samples for each request in multiple languages. Samples: Upbit, Bitfinex, ZB.com, Stripe.

Upbit

Uncommon/Cool Things

• Upcoming changes. Samples: Coinbase Pro.
• A guide on how to read API docs. Samples: Bitfinex.
• API uptime. Samples: Blockchain.info.
• All APIs and SDKs docs are in one place. Sample: imToken.
• There are API endpoints for both mainnet and testnet. Samples: Binance Chain.
• Each function explains the use cases where it can be implemented. Samples: Paytm.

Paytm

• Embedded Swagger into dev portal website. Samples: Amazon.

Amazon