Join this session for a retrospective on how Uber built and launched the Uber Developer Platform. Find out how Uber designed, implemented, and adapted its API to be successful for third-party developers to integrate with the Uber experience. We will dive into what went amazing, what we would have done differently, and how we moved at Uber speed to let builders build.

1. Building Platforms
for Developers
Dustin Whittle, Developer Advocate
Presenting the work of many people at Uber

3. 73
Countries
470+
Cities
75% of the U.S. population
lives in a county with
access to Uber
1.5M+
Active Driver Partners
5+ Million
Trips per day
2+ Billion
Trips completed

5. THE UBER PLATFORM VISION
BUILD MOVING EXPERIENCES

6. THE UBER PLATFORM VISION
BUILD MOVING EXPERIENCES
Working with Developers
Forging Partnerships
Providing Tools
Uber Cultural Value: Let Builders Build

7. THE UBER PLATFORM VISION
BUILD MOVING EXPERIENCES
Getting people from A to B
Features for people while they move
Products that bring joy
Making daily life easier: Saving time & Money
Uber Cultural Value: Make Magic

8. THE JOURNEY SO FAR

9. Where there's a will, there's a way

10. It started with a deep link to
push a button and get a ride

12. Welcome back,

14. In 2014 we first released the Uber API

15. In 2015, first partners started building
Uber experiences

16. Today, leading global brands elevate
their experience with Uber

17. OUR APIS …

18. • An interface between systems
• An integration between products
• An experience created by people
• Builders + Tools + Inspiration = Magic
API
What does it mean to you?

19. Make an API call, get a ride.

20. Uber Developer Platform
Enabling the world to build moving experiences with Uber.

21. A Platform Is Not Just A Product

22. Platforms are ecosystems

23. Building a platform that interacts with
the real world adds another level of
complexity (and opportunity)

25. We make the complex simple

26. POINT A POINT B

27. POINT A POINT BINTENT TO RIDE POST RIDE

28. POINTINTENT TO RIDE
Ride Request
Button
Deep Links
Webhooks
/request
/products
/estimates/price
/estimates/time
/requests/[id]
/history
/me
Ride DetailsRide Options Ride Request

29. Citymapper
/products /estimates/price
/estimates/time

30. Citymapper
Deep Links

32. Webhooks allow apps to be reactive

35. POINT POINTO RIDE
Webhooks
/current
all_trips scope
Trip Experiences
POS

36. POINT A POINT B
2,000,000,000 TRIPS
THE TRIP

37. POINT A POINT B
20 MINUTES PER TRIP~
THE TRIP

38. POINT A POINT B
40,000,000,000
MINUTES OF FREE TIME
~
THE TRIP

39. POINT A POINT B
CONTEXT MATTERS
The Trip Experiences API can tell you…
When the rider has free time
How much free time they have
Where they’re coming from
Where they’re going

41. On-Trip
Experience
Off-Trip
Experience

42. We help internal teams release
developer products

43. Organized as Programs and Platforms
Program Platform
Mission Business Focused Technology focused
Consumers Non-technical + Internal/External Technical + Internal
Products Feature-based products Technology consumed by programs
Team Cross-functional Specialized
Direction Product drivers Engineering Drivers

44. Languages in use at Uber
We are a polyglot engineering organization, and we speak many languages.
In order of preference - many services are moving to Go (or Java)

46. POINT POINTO RIDE
Uber Deliveries
/deliveries/[id]
Delivery Details
/deliveries/deliveries/quote
Delivery Options Delivery Request
POS

48. /partners/trips/partners/me /partner/payments
/partner/tax-summary
PaymentsIdentity History
POST RIDEPOINT

49. We help external teams build on
top of these developer products

50. Iterating with the developers

52. Uber Developer Platform
Enabling the world to build moving experiences with Uber.

53. HOW WE BUILT IT

54. https://medium.com/google-developers/why-do-we-pay-these-people-anyway-d7ed706d6d55

56. PLATFORM FEATURES SDKS
PARTNER ENGINEERING
DEVELOPER ADVOCACY

57. Support the community
Hackathons and events
Drive innovation
Make every developer
aware of the Uber API
DEVELOPER ADVOCACYDEVELOPER ADVOCACY

58. PARTNER ENGINEERING
Support partners from idea
to launch
Influence roadmap and
API design
Support developer
advocacy
Align the platform’s
direction with developer
needs
DEVELOPER ADVOCACY

59. PLATFORM FEATURES SDKS
PARTNER ENGINEERING
Stability needs Integration needs
Bug reports
Load prediction
API design
Relay developer feedback
DEVELOPER ADVOCACY
Integration needs
SDK design
Relay developer feedback

60. PLATFORM FEATURES SDKS
PARTNER ENGINEERING
Stability concerns Source of truth
Outage alerts
Developer issues
Solicit API feedback
Long tail developer
support
DEVELOPER ADVOCACY
Developer solutions
Solicit SDK feedback
Long tail developer
support

61. Enable developers to go from zero to hero!

64. Enable partners to quickly understand
scope of work for a use-case. Be upfront.

65. Be a good shepard of you platform

66. Auth your users via the native Uber app
No more username & password
One tap and your app can start requesting
rides
Single Sign On
Auth via Uber

67. Just set your ride parameters and let the Uber
app handle the ride experience
Existing users will feel right at home
Keep the focus on your app; let us handle the ride
Deep Links
Quick & easy

68. Highly configurable buttons let you get started
easily
Login Button lets you auth users using the
method you want (Native, Authorization Code
Grant, or Implicit Grant)
Ride Request Button allows you to request a
ride using Deep Links, the Ride Request
Widget, or custom API logic
Uber Buttons
Ride Request Button & Login Button

69. Provide the full Uber experience without ever
leaving your app
An entirely embedded experience, from
request to drop off
Ride Request Widget
Experience Uber without the app

71. Documentation built for developers

75. SDKs and sample apps enable developers

76. Make it safe to play in a sandbox

77. Automate the tedious tasks

80. Errors should be obvious and helpful

82. Great support is critical. Build a community!

88. WHAT WE LEARNED

89. What works for a single API…
doesn’t work for a developer
platform.

90. FEATURES
PARTNER ENGINEERING
DEVELOPER ADVOCACY
PLATFORM SDKS

91. FEATURESPLATFORM SDKS
PARTNER ENGINEERING
DEVELOPER ADVOCACY

92. DEVELOPER ADVOCACY
PLATFORM
SDKSFEATURES

93. DEVELOPER ADVOCACY
PLATFORM
DEVELOPER PRODUCTS

94. DEVELOPER
PRODUCTS
DRIVER DELIVERIES
DEVELOPER
ADVOCACY
PLATFORM
PARTNER
ENGINEERING
PARTNER
ENGINEERING

95. Scale the process and your team.

96. Developer value comes from
listening to your developers.

97. Company value comes from
discovering what your developer
platform uniquely brings to your
company.

98. The challenge is not technology…
It’s imagination.

99. What future will you build?
https://developers.uber.com

101. Q & A

102. DEVELOPER
PARTNER
PL
AT
FO
RM
FEA
TUR
ES
SD
KS