Context
Visa Developer Platform (VDP) provides APIs and tools used by developers worldwide to integrate payments, data, identity, and risk capabilities into their applications. As adoption increased, developer friction surfaced across onboarding, testing, and integration workflows—affecting time to first API call, successful implementation rates, and partner satisfaction.
My role was to lead product improvements across the sandbox, onboarding, documentation, and workflow experience to reduce friction and strengthen developer trust in Visa’s APIs.
The Problem
Research, developer interviews, and support ticket analysis highlighted recurring challenges:
- Onboarding required too many steps and was unclear
- Sandbox behavior did not consistently match production
- Documentation was fragmented, outdated, or difficult to navigate
- Developers struggled to troubleshoot API errors
- Support teams were overloaded with repetitive questions
- Key tools and samples were hard to discover
These issues slowed integration cycles and negatively impacted developer sentiment.
Users & Pain Points
Primary Users
- Software developers integrating Visa APIs
- Fintech engineers testing in sandbox environments
- Solutions architects and API integration teams
- Product managers evaluating compliance and integration workflows
Key Pain Points
- Long path to first successful API call
- Sandbox inconsistencies causing failed tests
- Poor error clarity requiring support intervention
- Documentation that lacked structure and depth
- Difficulty discovering sample code and SDKs
Root Causes
- Sandbox and production systems were not fully aligned.
- Documentation was owned by multiple teams, creating inconsistencies.
- No unified onboarding workflow or guided path for new developers.
- High support volume driven by unclear error messaging.
- Limited navigation structure for APIs, tools, and reference material.
Product Strategy & Approach
The product strategy was centered on:
- Improving sandbox reliability and aligning behaviors with production.
- Creating a streamlined, predictable onboarding workflow.
- Rebuilding documentation with clear information architecture and updated samples.
- Reducing support dependency by improving troubleshooting clarity.
- Strengthening the overall developer experience across tools and platforms.
Solution
Sandbox Modernization
Partnered with engineering to improve sandbox reliability, ensuring it matched production behavior and provided developers with predictable integration outcomes.
Developer Onboarding Redesign
Created guided workflows that reduced the number of steps required from registration to API testing, improving the time to first successful API call.
Documentation Enhancements
Redesigned the documentation structure, consolidated outdated pages, improved technical clarity, and introduced modern sample code and explanations.
Troubleshooting Framework
Developed standardized troubleshooting paths for common errors, significantly reducing repetitive support tickets.
Knowledge Base and AI Enablement
Authored more than 2,500 expert solutions that now power Visa’s AI-driven developer support system, enabling scalable, high-quality self-service guidance.
Execution
- Conducted extensive developer interviews and log analysis
- Collaborated closely with engineering, DX, and content teams
- Led documentation redesign and modernization
- Designed improved onboarding and project creation workflows
- Partnered with support teams to integrate knowledge assets
- Established metrics dashboards for onboarding and API success rates
Results
This initiative led to significant improvements across the developer ecosystem:
- Reduced onboarding friction and faster time to first API call
- Higher first-call success rates across core APIs
- Significant reduction in repetitive support tickets
- Greater trust in sandbox reliability and overall platform behavior
- Faster integration cycles for fintech partners
- High-quality knowledge assets enabling AI-based developer support
Learnings
- Developer experience is a core product, and friction compounds quickly at scale.
- Clear documentation materially improves adoption and reduces support volume.
- Sandbox reliability directly affects developer trust and integration success.
- AI-driven support requires structured, high-quality content.
