ThoughtSpot

ThoughtSpot provides an analytics solution for businesses. They recently released a set of APIs and developer tools to empower organizations to build their own custom analytics apps. I was tasked with create a developer microsite, engaging content and messaging, and grow the overall adoption of developer-focused projects.

Problem

Developers didn’t know ThoughtSpot provided APIs and were unclear what sort of apps that they could build. The developer microsite had to solve three primary problems:

• Educate developers on new features and what they could build

• Give them the documentation and tutorials so they could build quickly

• Provide a friction-free sign-up experience to grow the number of active developers on the platform

Solution

The first step was to define a clear lifecycle for developers that gave them a path to implementation. This lifecycle then formed the basis of core messaging and Figma-based designs. Designs were then tested with community focus groups before being implemented in React. At the same time, I worked with product and strategic partners to create tutorials to bridge ThoughtSpot’s offering with other products a developer would typically use when building analytics apps. These tutorials were written in Markdown and leveraged claat to make updating and generating the final tutorials quick, easy, and most importantly, available on public GitHub repositories to promote community feedback.

With learning paths and tutorials designed and written, I then worked with internal experts, community MVPs, and technology partners to collate best practices, code samples, and templates and implement a catalogue for developers. This catalogue, called CodeSpot was a searchable repository that developers could immediate grab the code and speed up their development projects.

The final part of the solution was close collaboration with the product teams to create a live ungated sandbox where developer’s could immediately try out ThoughtSpot and seamlessly go from trial to signup. This live trial, in conjunction with tutorials and code samples helped increase conversions 130% after launch, with adoption continuing to grow.

Final Thoughts

I worked with ThoughtSpot for approximately a year, initially providing developer relations advice before being engaged to build the microsite and adoption strategy. This is a great example where understanding the motivations of developers and working in collaboration with product to deliver value across the developer journey whilst keeping a clean interface through a website and product experience.