Talk: How to design AsyncAPIs in Workshops: The API Product Canvas
AsyncAPI is a great specification language for asynchronous APIs, similar to OpenAPI for HTTP. It is machine-readable and works well for developers and business analysts. However, when designing APIs in collaboration, the YAML or JSON-based standard can be overwhelming for non-technical people.
Therefore, we developed the API Product Canvas, a tool that helps communicate API specifications with ease. This session presented our learnings from designing APIs with IT and non-IT people, and how to get to a result in a collaborative way to make well-architected, business-oriented APIs that are understood by developers and work in production.
Covered topics:
- Why AsyncAPI design needs a different approach than REST API design
- How the API Product Canvas facilitates collaborative AsyncAPI workshops
- Practical techniques for mapping business events to technical AsyncAPI specifications
- Real-world examples of using the canvas for event-driven architecture design
- Best practices for running effective AsyncAPI design workshops
Abstract
AsyncAPI is a great specification language for asynchronous APIs, similar to OpenAPI for HTTP REST. It is machine-readable and works well for developers and business analysts. However, when designing APIs in collaboration, the YAML or JSON-based standard can be overwhelming. Therefore, we developed the API Product Canvas, a tool that helps communicate API specifications with ease. We will present our learnings from designing APIs with IT and non-IT people, and how to get to a result in a collaborative way to make well-architected, business-oriented APIs that are understood by developers and work in production.
Teaser Video
This talk was held together with Annegret Junker at Apidays Munich 2025 on July 2-3, 2025 in München.
Links
Event & Material:
- Conference - Apidays Munich 2025
- Slides - Presentation slides
- API Product Canvas - Template for Miro
Related Content:
- Book: Crafting Great APIs with Domain-Driven Design - Comprehensive guide covering collaborative API design methodologies
- Domain-driven API Design Talk - Conference presentation on DDD principles for API design
- How to design OpenAPIs in Workshops: The API Product Canvas - Companion talk for synchronous API design
