Hi, my name is Nerissa. ??
Back in June of this year I started at Interac Corporation (“Interac®”) as Community Manager. I’d never worked as a ‘community manager’ before, but the job description was a combination of everything I’d ever done in my career that made me happy: creating content, collaborating, researching and keeping a pulse on both the developer and fintech ‘worlds’.
Before joining, I worked as a freelance writer with the proverbial slash and ‘front-end developer’ on my LinkedIn profile. Going freelance taught me some tough lessons, like staying focused on what I can do (write) vs. what I know a little about (front-end development), and what I’m passionate about (helping others find a solution, answer a question or make a part of their lives better.)
Last year, Interac launched the Developer Centre with the goal of using the platform to release new APIs (Application Programming Interface) and SDKs (Software Development Kits) to the broader market. Exciting! But the task fell into the hands of members of the team who already had full plates (bringing those APIs and SDKs to life being a large slice of that plate.)
The idea was to bring on someone (hi) who could help see the growth of the Developer Centre through improvements, build its profile within local and not-so-local communities and make it into an online hub where future products for developers could be released.
Basically, my job is to help developers understand how to use the APIs and SDKs we release and to make sure that feedback from the community is heard by the people here who are building our products and solutions.
Developer Centre Phase II
Over the last few months, I’ve been listening carefully to what people are saying about the Developer Centre as it stands today. This has meant talking to users and employees, closely eyeing the analytics, and comparing our platform to others.
Long story short: the Developer Centre is ready for an upgrade.
Phase II will be about building a platform that enables businesses and developers to partner with us, use our products, and ultimately build great payments experiences for Canadians. Phase II is part of how we deliver on entering the API economy.
In the next few months, we’ll be beta launching our first truly public API built on e-Transfer. Ahead of these changes, we’re doing a complete redesign of the current Developer Centre, which will include integrating with a forum platform to make it easier for users to ask and answer questions.
What’s in it for You
These changes mean:
- Members will have access to test the APIs we release and integrate with Canada’s largest payments network,
- a direct line to the product and development teams here to get support and share feedback, and
- access to our content, events and (actually valuable) perks.
Where We’re Starting
On a personal note, as much as I embrace big change, ‘small’ change has its place (beyond landing in a purse). This industry changes daily: new experiences, new apps, new ways to pay and get paid. A large part of how we navigate these changes is rooted in collaboration. We want to work with companies, partners, business and entities outside of us. It’s part of the vision for the Developer Centre, and part of how we innovate.
This is why we’re opening up the Developer Centre blog to comments. (Click here to view our updated developer centre terms of service (see Section 32).) If what we really want is an engaged community, our own blog is the best place to start right now. (Take a look at our ‘Rules of Engagement’ below.)
This is a very exciting time to working with Interac. There’s so much opportunity in the industry, I’m most looking forward to seeing the cutting-edge stuff that’s coming to life and the conversations that lead to innovations, shifts and new insights. Thanks for taking the time to read!
The Blog Rules of Engagement
- Stay professional. This means no swearing, name-calling, rudeness, racism, sexism, ageism. Respect differences of opinion and approach.
- Keep the vault locked. Any comments that violate our terms of use, privacy policy or that share any of our proprietary information will be deleted.
- Know your audience. This is less of a rule and more a ‘best practice’. Before commenting, consider if what you want to contribute will add to the conversation or would be better put in an email (or soon, the Developer Centre Forum. Stay tuned.)
How do you imagine working with Interac in the future? What do you want to see on the blog and in the Developer Centre? What are you having for lunch today? Let us know in the comments.