In order to gather some useful information on how twilio communicates its product to its audience, I will attempt to go from Zero to API-Keys on using a part of the Twilio ecosystem starting from their site.
I also intend to log my thoughts and observations during the process.
My first Investigation will be on the premise that I've heard of twilio and I would like to build something on their system.
I've typed twilio into Google.
I can see they have an ad right at the top. I can also see a few different options below that, but i'm just going to click the ad for twilio.
This takes me straight to their homepage.
I First thing I see is a great big red button that says Get A Free API Key. So I know I can probably get started for free, and I might even be able to use it for free unless I'm doing LOADS of Twilio stuff... Just guessing right now though.
Below that button I've just seen, talk to an expert. I like that.
I like that they're experts, I don't want to talk to sales, I would be well happy to talk to an expert.
They have a city video thing going on in the header which is nice. It certainly reflects the statement "Build software that communicates with everyone in the world".
Great statement.
I've just seen the logo and the right hand menu. Docs link is there. I'll probably need that at some point, but I'm going to let the page take me around for now.
I'm going to scroll down now.
OK... I can see they have 3 products here.
Promgrammable SMS, Voice and Elastic SIP trunking.
I don't know what trunking is (apart from the stuff I put wires in the garden), so i'll ignore that one. Voice sounds fun.
Oh, they have more when I scroll down... Gees they have loads. There's too many for me to think about right now.
Some quotes I dont care about...
Ah! Code blocks...
These are all sending SMS messages it seems (I can see that because of the comments in the code block), I'm looking at the PHP and Node blocks as they're the languages i'm most familiar with.
Looks really easy...
OK, pay as you go pricing. Makes sense I guess.
Some companies that use it... They have some nice names, I like that. Makes me feel good that theyre doing it too.
We can’t wait to see what you build. HA, yes me too.
OK. I'm not going to sign up yet, thats a big commitment, I'll have to add in email adresses and tackle dashboards and other annoying things / getting lost. First thing I'll do is scroll back up and click "learn more" on the SMS block. That might give me an idea on where to start.
(I could just copy the code block and paste it into a file, but I don't learn like that. I like to write it myself otherwise i'm not being an engineer).
Not just an API to exchange text and picture messages. A powerful software platform to simplify your development and solve deliverability.
Wow, didn't know you could do picture messages as well to be honest... So great, now I've just learned 1 more thing.
Big orange sign up button. I'm still not ready for that yet thanks.
No upfront fee or subscription. $0.0075 per message. Varies by region and volume. View pricing
OK, thats helpful actually, I'll remember that as I progress. I know I'm going to hit the pricing page button at some point, but these little tidbits are keeping me informed so I don't need to break my concentration just yet.
UBER NOTIFIES RIDERS IN REAL-TIME.
Nice one UBER! Didn't know they used twilio. Have Sense.
OK... There's a load of text here and then I hit the same footer. I'm really not interested in reading it. From what I've scan read its all mainly about telling me how reliable they are and how quick and how wonderful the service is.
Fair enough. But i'm happy I saw the top bit of the page. I learned that I can do picture messages, a little bit more about pricing, and also who else is using it.
OK... Dead end this page I think. So i'm going to hit docs now.
I can see the docs link at the top of the page (noticed that when I hit the homepage). I can also see "help"... I don't want to ask for help thanks.
Docs it is.
OK interesting.
Their "Docs" page is an amalgamation of all the types of documentation. Looks nice. Simple enough.
Quickstarts, guides, tutorials, etc... Oh, theres a quick link thing.
This is interesting.
So basically, I can choose which language I want, and then which product I want to apply the language too.
OK, I'm going to choose PHP and SMS.
This takes me to a guide page... There is a load going on here, so i'm not going to analyise this all right now. For the purpose of this test lets accept that I understand how to use their SMS system with PHP.
Now I know what I'm doing, I'm going to do the sign up process get a "free key" as advertised earlier and then get cracking.
OK... Sign up button at the top.
URGH...
There are a lot of fields to fill in.
Helpful popup on the password field, says I dont need special characters too... Well Done Twilio.
OK, this is actually quite helpful:
POTENTIAL MONTHLY INTERACTIONS (OVER SMS, CHAT, VOICE, & VIDEO)
I chose, "Not a production App". I'm hoping this data is used in supporting me better.
I'm not a robot. Debateable.
Hit "Get Started", taking a very long time to register...
"We need to verify you're a human." Again?... OK fine. They're going to send me a text message now.
I have the verification code and I'm typing that in. I guess Twilio uses Twilio...
OK... Now I have to give my project a name. I'll just call it "Fantastic Pants".
Great, done. Now the dreaded dashboard. INFORMATION OVERLOAD.
AH! Looks like it knew which product I chose and put me on that page.
This isnt too bad, do all their products work together? hmmm, ok, next. I'm looking for my keys now.
"You have a Trial Account" Helpful.
Also "Your trial account has 15.50 remaining". Thats good to know straight off.
There's also a load of other tidbits of info which are nie and helpful:
"Messages sent in trial will begin with "Sent from a Twilio Trial Account"
OK... Found my keys "Show API Credentials". Perfect. Done.