July 2017 Summaries

REST APIs have been the dominant standard for web APIs, organizing data around resources and utilizing HTTP verbs for operations, but they face challenges like data over-fetching and under-fetching, and require clients to update integrations when changes occur. In response, Graph APIs, exemplified by Facebook's Graph API and GitHub's GraphQL API, have emerged by modeling data in terms of nodes and edges, allowing clients to retrieve multiple nodes in a single request and specify desired fields, thus optimizing data retrieval and reducing HTTP calls. The Facebook Graph API, for instance, enables clients to conduct nested queries, fetching related data in one call, while GitHub’s GraphQL API operates on a single endpoint using JSON-formatted queries and introduces the concept of mutations for updates. Despite the advantages of Graph APIs, such as enhanced flexibility and control over response data, they present their own challenges, making it important to consider the trade-offs between REST and Graph architectures when designing APIs.

Olark is a live chat client that enables instant customer support or sales opportunities from browsing websites, emphasizing the human connection in sales roles. Bill Thompson, Olark's Guru of Customer Happiness, sought to automate manual tasks and improve efficiency. He uses ScheduleOnce for scheduling meetings and integrates it with HubSpot through Zapier, automating lead management tasks such as assigning leads, tracking follow-ups, and updating lead status. This automation has significantly improved his workflow and productivity. Additionally, Olark's live chat interactions are used to generate sales leads, which are then tagged with "Sales" and automatically added to HubSpot, enabling Bill to review the conversation and make informed sales decisions.

There's a growing need for software knowledge in various industries, but many colleges don't teach basic business software skills. To fill this gap, individuals can explore freemium models of popular business apps and tools like Zapier, which helps build code-free workflows between multiple apps to boost productivity and efficiency. With Zapier, users can automate tasks, organize schedules, notes, and projects, making them more productive and efficient in their studies and future careers. By leveraging Zapier's integrations with hundreds of web-based business apps, individuals can streamline their workflow, stay organized, manage group project collaboration, share notes with friends, and even automate repetitive tasks for student organization work.

eSight Eyewear is a company that helps the visually impaired see again with their eSight 3 device, which uses a high-speed camera, custom vision profile, and user-based settings to bring sight back. The company's founder, Conrad Lewis, was inspired by his sisters' visual impairments and spent years developing a solution. With the help of a team of engineers, eSight created a sleeker device that is giving people their lives back. eSight's popularity means they need to schedule many in-person demos, which can be time-consuming. To streamline this process, eSight uses automation tools like Zapier to automate scheduling and tracking customer records. The company's Business Analyst, Noah Kates Rose, found a solution using Acuity Scheduling software, which integrates with Salesforce workflow, allowing for automatic creation of new customer records and follow-up emails. This has improved the efficiency of the company's operations, enabling them to focus on making the company better in any way possible.

The concept of brainstorming has a rich history, dating back to 1948 when advertising executive Alex Osborn published "Your Creative Power," which included a chapter on the technique. Osborn's team used brainstorming to generate 87 ideas in just 90 minutes, and he outlined four primary rules: no negative feedback, focus on quantity over quality, use others' ideas as launchpads, and encourage big thinking. While brainstorming can be highly effective, it can also be a waste of time if not done correctly. To make the most of brainstorming, individuals can try independent brainstorming strategies such as finding word associations, using prompts, visual jumpstarts, setting boundaries, taking away boundaries, and experimenting with group brainstorming techniques like brainwriting, the 6-3-5 method, and sharing inspiration. These approaches can help generate great ideas by leveraging diverse perspectives, avoiding groupthink, and creating a collaborative environment that fosters creativity and productivity.

Craft Clubs, a UK-based booze subscription service, appeared on the British version of Shark Tank in 2016 and secured a £75,000 investment, nearly doubling their six-month business in just two months, thanks to their existing software tools such as MoonClerk, Zapier, and Google Sheets. The company's founders, Jon Hulme and John Burke, built a customized system using these off-the-shelf tools, automating workflows with Zaps, which allowed them to scale efficiently without hiring additional IT staff. Their use of Zapier enabled them to create complex integrations, such as adding new customer data to Help Scout and MailChimp, and experiment with new workflows without incurring significant costs. The company's success showcases the potential of using automation tools like Zapier to drive business growth.

Zapier has introduced "Zapier Issues," a feature that provides developers with valuable insights into how their apps are utilized by power-users on the platform, enabling them to improve app integrations and user experiences. This tool allows developers of public apps connected to Zapier to access filtered and categorized feedback on feature requests and bug reports, helping them prioritize and implement necessary updates. By transforming customer feedback into actionable data, Zapier Issues facilitates the identification of new use cases and the resolution of technical issues, enhancing the app's functionality without complicating its interface. Through collaboration with Zapier's support team, developers can address both feature requests and bug reports, ensuring that their apps meet customer needs while benefiting from Zapier's extensive API testing. This collaborative approach not only enriches the user experience but also strengthens the ecosystem surrounding the app, as demonstrated by successful early access trials with companies like Acuity Scheduling.

Delegation is a delicate dance that enables managers to swap time-wasting activities for top-priority strategic initiatives while giving junior employees the opportunity to take on stretch projects and hone their skills. Done well, delegation presents a win-win situation for all involved, but most leaders don't delegate effectively due to personal insecurity or fear of losing control, credit, or delegating themselves out of a job. To overcome these concerns, managers need to recognize that successful delegation requires surrendering control of the details and decision-making process to colleagues while maintaining accountability for the overall outcome. By choosing the right people to delegate to, cultivating a culture of trust, addressing staff's concerns, following the Acceptance Theory of Authority, and conducting mutual reviews, managers can free up their schedule, develop their employees, and improve the bottom line. Effective delegation requires work but is worth the effort, leading to increased productivity and progress for everyone on the team.

In this blog post, the author discusses Zapier's transition to using Molecule for testing Ansible roles, highlighting how it integrates with Docker, Vagrant, and OpenStack to create a virtualized testing environment. The post details the process of setting up a testing environment for Ansible roles using Molecule, starting with a simple project to install and configure Consul. It emphasizes the importance of automated testing and continuous integration to prevent code rot, advocating for the Test-Driven Development (TDD) approach of "red, green, refactor." The author also addresses challenges like setting up systemd services in Docker and testing across multiple platforms, demonstrating how Molecule facilitates these tasks. Ultimately, the post stresses the benefits of using Molecule for maintaining Ansible roles, including its potential for integration into CI pipelines to safeguard against regressions and ensure role stability over time.