About the talk:

When web applications operate as spaces, they are structured environments the user must enter to complete tasks. Spaces end up controling the behavior of their users with preset workflows, and create cognitive and experience friction. Web applications can also operate as tools, especially those facilitated through APIs: these enable users to work within their own contexts, temporarily called on for user needs only rather than enforcing an external structure with added content.

Imagine how agentic AI will change the kind of interactions that users expect to have with digital systems. For traditional web applications this represents an existential threat: soon customers will not favor experiences that limit them into a rigid graphical user interface.

What does this mean for the systems we use to create and publish business- and technical documentation?
How do we prepare our documentation systems and the applications they document for this transformation?

In this keynote, Kristof Van Tomme explores the evolving landscape of web applications through the lens of tools, spaces, and affordances; drawing on complexity theory, social practice theory, and emerging genAI applications.
 

About the Speaker

"For over 17 years, as the CEO of Pronovix, I have been leading a team of experts in API documentation, web development, developer engagement, and API gateway integrations. 

My mission is to gather and share knowledge from the API, developer evangelist, and technical writer community, and to create the best possible developer portals for our clients. We help organizations to solve discoverability problems, sell API products, build communication hubs, and gain visibility through open APIs. I am also the co-founder of API the Docs, a conference series for API practitioners, and a Write the Docs meetup organizer, where I promote best practices and innovation in documentation and user experience.

At Pronovix we've amongst others built: Developer Hubs, Gateway agnostic developer portals, API documentation, API gateway integrations, developer engagement systems (to improve API build quality), Apigee devportals, and API repositories to solve discoverability problems in large multi-divisional enterprise companies."