Saeed Aghaee presents on integrating web APIs simply. He discusses the need for a mashup tool that is neither too specialized nor too simplified for non-professional users to integrate APIs. The tool, Natural Mash, uses a cooking metaphor where APIs are ingredients, mashups are recipes, and integration is cooking. It allows both event-based and sequential integration using natural language annotations. User studies found most participants were able to complete tasks of creating mashups with the tool.

1. Integra(ng
Web
APIs,
Simply
Saeed
Aghaee
Faculty
of
Informa(cs
University
of
Lugano
(USI)
Switzerland
Email:
saeed.aghaee@usi.ch
Twi0er:
@mr_wersa,
@naturalmash
Website:
hGp://naturalmash.com
APIDays
2013,
Madrid,
Spain
1

2. 2

3. Web
API
Integra9on
3

4. Web
API
Integra9on
for
Everyone
4

5. 5

6. 6
Too
specialized/complex
for
non-­‐professional
users

7. 7
Too
simple

8. 8
A
mashup
tool
that
is
neither
too
specialized
nor
too
simplified?

9. 9
A
mashup
tool
that
is
neither
too
specialized
nor
too
simplified?

10. Metaphor
of
cooking:
Ingredients:
Web
APIs
Recipe:
Mashup
Cooking:
Integra(on
hGp://naturalmash.com
10

11. Recipe
Output
mashup
Available
ingredients
Used
Ingredients
11

12. 12
Event-­‐based
(“when
the
map
is
clicked,
..”)
and
sequen(al
(“find
youtube
videos
about
(tle,
and
…”)
integra(on
styles
Natural
Language
based
Integra(on

13. 13
Every
API
has
a
short
descrip(on
with
natural
language
(autocomple(on
helps
with
discovery)
Natural
Language
annota(on

14. 14
Move
and
resize
widgets
User
Interface
Design

15. Descrip(ve
Direct
manipula(on
15

16. Live
Programming
Style
16

17. 17
Demo
Enhanced
Music
Video
Search

18. Demo
18

19. 19
Ingredients
library
Wrap
Web
APIs
Integrate
or
reuse
APIs
Mashup
library
Advanced
users
Novice
users
Contribute
Contribute
Use
case
Call
for
a
API

20. 20
-­‐ HTTP+POX
-­‐ OAuth
(1.0,
1.0a,
2.0)
-­‐ JavaScript+HTML
Widgets
-­‐ SOAP
-­‐ JSON
-­‐ XML
Web
API
Technologies
User-­‐based
API
ranking

21. Itera(ve
User-­‐centered
Design
and
Development
21
Design
Implementa(on
Evalua(on
Analysis
Two
itera(ons
are
completed

22. Itera(ve
User-­‐centered
Design
and
Development
22
Design
Implementa(on
Evalua(on
Analysis
Two
itera(ons
are
completed

23. 23
Evalua(on:
User
study
-­‐ Goal:
assess
how
successful
the
tool
can
be
used
by
users,
specially
non-­‐technical
users,
to
integrate
APIs.
-­‐ 36
Par9cipants:
diverse
background
(non-­‐programmers
and
beginner
programmers).
-­‐ Methods:
usability
tes(ng,
think
aloud,
ques(onnaire,
and
interview.
-­‐ Tasks:
create
4
different
(given)
mashups
+
create
a
mashup
on
your
own.
-­‐ Results:
The
majority
(95%)
of
the
par(cipants
(in
both
itera(ons)
completed
the
tasks.

24. 24
Open
Task
Results:
interes(ng
mashups
created
by
end
users
-­‐ A
mashup
that
measures
the
level
of
online
presence
in
tourism,
using
social
network
APIs
such
as
TwiGer
and
Facebook.
-­‐ A
mashup
that
enhances
online
shopping
experience
using
eBay,
Flickr,
and
Facebook.
-­‐ A
mashup
that
delivers
loca(on-­‐based
news
with
related
media
content
(video
and
image)
using
Google
News,
Youtube,
Flickr,
and
TwiGer.

25. We
need
users
(novice
and
advanced)
for
tes(ng
the
tool
in
the
wild
hGp://naturalmash.com
25

26. 26
Users
background:
basic
experience
in
use
of
Web
2.0
services
and
no
programming
skills
Integra9on
with
Natural
Language:
sequen(al
(do
this,
do
that,
…)
event-­‐based
(when
this,
do
that,
…)
API
technologies:
REST,
SOAP,
HTTP+POX,
XML,
JSON,
RSS,
Atom,
JavaScript,
HTML5,
OAuth,
etc.

27. 27
You
can
build
it
if
you
can
describe
it

28. Integra(ng
Web
APIs,
Simply
Saeed
Aghaee
Faculty
of
Informa(cs
University
of
Lugano
(USI)
Switzerland
Email:
saeed.aghaee@usi.ch
Twi0er:
@mr_wersa,
@naturalmash
Website:
hGp://naturalmash.com
APIDays
2013,
Madrid,
Spain
28