OverDrive
NOMINEE OVERVIEW
OverDrive is the developer of the award-winning Libby app (for public and academic libraries) and Sora app (for schools). Users can borrow ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more for free with their library card or student credentials.
With our APIs, partners can build products like library catalogs, web browser extensions, ereader applications, library software, and more. This allows libraries and schools to integrate OverDrive titles with their physical materials and other offerings.
The new OverDrive Developer Portal has been built with scalability, sustainability, and accessibility in mind. The site is part of our new headless CMS infrastructure, aligning it seamlessly with OverDrive's design system, making it easier to update and maintain, and improving accessibility. Technical writers and other team members can now create new pages and update documentation in a matter of minutes.
We created new pages with branding guidelines for our partners when using our APIs. We added an FAQ, a glossary, and help pages for our partners to learn about our industry-specific terms and concepts like formats, lending models, and Advantage accounts!
Finally, we added an improved application process for library and school customers to get access to our exciting integrations with their vendors.
NOMINATION RATIONALE
1) BEST SOLUTION PORTAL
The OverDrive APIs serve two main stakeholder groups: developers creating a novel integration and non-technical librarians and school administrators who need to get API access for their organization.
For developers, we want to introduce them to the APIs, provide technical documentation, and demystify OverDrive-specific terminology in API responses. This way, they can hit the ground running with all the info they need to get started.
Our non-technical customers need different guidance. For this group, we want to provide non-technical information about the APIs and help them request the API access they need.
Whenever possible, we use plain language and provide internal links to help guide users to the appropriate destination. We also highlight common use cases and provide a new branding style guide with sample implementations to visually demonstrate what their integration could look like. We think these engagement strategies help non-technical and technical audiences alike.
2) BEST ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE IN A DEVELOPER PORTAL
Our redesigned Developer Portal features a new and improved process for requesting access to our APIs for known integration partners. This makes it easier and more intuitive for our non-technical library and school partners to get the access they need.
Additionally, the site is fully accessible and WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant, ensuring users of all abilities can readily navigate and find what they are looking for.
The improved onboarding experience starts on the home page where we empower the user to find the information they need with a clean and intuitive design. We make a special attempt to call out what OverDrive is, what our APIs can do, and how users can access them. We filter users to the “Request access” button as quickly as possible to ensure they can apply for API access right away.
Our “Application” main page prompts users to select what they are trying to achieve with the APIs by clearly explaining which option to select. We wrote these explanations based on research and internal testing.
When a user chooses the option to integrate with an approved vendor, we provide a pick list for them to select their vendor, thereby reducing guess work and assuring the non-technical user they are in the correct location.
