API The Docs Podcast

We discuss findings from GitBook's "State of the Docs" report (2025), for example that 90% view documentation as crucial for purchases, yet 40% of those interviewed don't track its performance. We talk of speeding up API integration, and GitBook's focus on refining adaptive and personalized documentation features, then address avoiding tunnel vision and keeping discoverability for users, underscoring the ongoing innovation in the field. Bio: Addison Schultz is a web developer & designer working and living in Tokyo, Japan. He leads the developer relations team at GitBook, a tool for technical teams to document their products and APIs. He's been working the last 7 years on collaborative tooling, worked with some of the world’s leading design and development companies, providing product teams with advice and industry advice on how teams can build better products, faster.References: https://www.stateofdocs.com/2025/https://gitbook.com/docs/https://apithedocs.org/ai-docs-online-2025

Welcome back to the A(P)I The Docs podcast! We’re opening this new chapter with an absolute treat of an episode in which Anila Zaidi, Staff Technical Writer at Squarespace, and Marco Spinello, Senior Technical Writer at Booking.com discuss the transformative role of generative AI in technical writing and beyond. We explore how AI has evolved from an experimental tool to an essential aid whilst also touching on the challenges and ethical considerations surrounding AI.

How do you get people on board when you shift to a new tool or a new approach? Even if the value proposition is clear, it might be a challenge to create a practice out of the change.  In this episode of API The Docs, Polina Zaichkina (Senior technical writer at Codat) and Max Clayton Cowes (Product director for experience at Codat) share insights about building a culture of participation around documentation and achieving internal enablement.

In this engaging discussion, Naomi Pentrel, a robotics API documentation revamp expert, and Andrew Feierabend, a user experience advocate, dive into their transformative journey. They highlight the importance of structured user interviews, which inform effective documentation improvements. Their collaborative approach fosters daily usability wins and larger-scale automation changes. The conversation even touches on the playful inspiration behind their award-winning portal design, showcasing how creativity plays a vital role in user engagement.

Byrne Reese had the opportunity to build a number of developer programs over the years. In this episode, he explains his unique Developer Pyramid framework which he uses as a guide to build a successful and scalable developer program now at RingCentral. He also dives into his passion for board games and how it influences his approach to documentation, and explores the Workflow Builder tool that redefines building on the RingCentral platform. Tune in for all the details!

In this discussion, Anna Skoulikari, a technical writer at JetBrains and author of 'Learning Git', shares her insights on making Git accessible for everyone. She emphasizes the importance of visual storytelling and hands-on projects to simplify complex concepts. Anna discusses tailoring Git materials for high school students, striking a balance between accessibility and educational depth. She also highlights the significance of user testing in content creation, ensuring clarity and adaptability while navigating the challenges of book publishing.

"Key results are the things you're going to do to move that number. Here's the thing where most people spin out. There should be a break mechanism on the things that you're doing […] a culture of experimentation, and objective critique around 'Is this the right thing to be doing?” Welcome back to our two parts episode with Rachel Lee Nabors, we continue with talking about developer portal stakeholders and your metrics based approach.

"You can always tell when it's a novice writer or a writer and an artist who are in bad relation because there will be blocks of text everywhere explaining how the character is feeling […] There's a delicate balance to be struck and it's the same with code.” Welcome Rachel Lee Nabors, one of the creators behind the grand award-winning react.dev portal where all 600+ code examples are manipulable, and in each section’s "code challenges," learners are encouraged to fix broken examples by following clues left by the core team.

Drawing from her role as a wayfinder, Claire Waters (Senior Manager – Product Content Experience, Cloudflare) shares her team’s using the COIN methodology for embracing AI tools as a team, and how they engage in low-stakes AI challenges to foster familiarity and comfort with AI technologies.

You need docs and headspace when a well-oiled system inevitably throws a flat tire. With Dan Grabski we talked from car racing through tech execs mediating at Burning Man, forest fire incident management systems and early expectations setting all the way to API docs and back again.