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Swan Case Study Walkthrough

⏱️ Total Writing Time: 2h55m (excluding project setup & day-after proofreading)

🔧 Tools:

  • Docusaurus (Swan docs clone)
  • Swan's Docs and API Reference
  • Bespoke agentic LLM ecosystem
  • A keyboard and a lot of caffeine

🎯 Goals:

  • Demonstrate my ability to work within swan's tooling
  • Showcase my individual approach and writing style

Question 1: Schema Documentation​

Review the following sign-up flow and write comprehensive documentation explaining the process.

Deliverables: Clear step-by-step documentation, appropriate section structure, developer warnings, schema improvements.

Analysis

Challenge: Complex conditional signup flow lacks developer context and clear implementation guidance
Approach: Transform into actionable developer documentation with chronological phases and technical callouts

Key Decisions & Implementation​

Structure: Chronological 8-phase flow matching developer implementation sequence
Content Strategy: Distinct developer (you) vs. user steps (the user), OAuth examples and error handling
Developer Experience: Upfront warnings, visual scanning optimization, link-heavy approach to avoid duplication

⏱️ Writing Time: 90 minutes (Research 20min → Content 55min → Enhancement 15min)

Collaboration & Next Steps​

Product: Clarify Phase 7 trigger requirements (biometrics inclusion logic)
Engineering: Validate OAuth parameter examples and exact error response strings
Customer Success: Identify top 3 signup integration pain points from support tickets

Validation: Cross-referenced Swan API documentation
Future Improvements: Streamline callout density, create troubleshooting decision tree

Question 2: Webhook Explanation​

Our payment processing system uses webhooks to communicate transaction status updates.

Deliverables: Dual-audience webhook overview explaining concept, payment flow usage, and implementation best practices.

Analysis

Challenge: Bridge technical webhook complexity with business value for non-technical stakeholders
Approach: Business-value-first structure with technical deep-dives and Swan-specific payment examples

Key Decisions & Implementation​

Audience Strategy: Business leads, technical sections visually separated with clear indicators
Swan Context: Real payment scenarios, technical consistency, no signature verification model
Implementation Focus: Value-added, Dashboard references, implementation patterns

⏱️ Writing Time: 60 minutes (Research 10min → Content 45min → Validation 5min)

Collaboration & Next Steps​

Product: Clarify merchant notification preferences and critical event prioritization to build an event prioritization matrix & common merchant scenario playbook
Customer Success: Analyze common webhook implementation failure patterns from support data

Validation: Cross-referenced Swan API documentation for payload structure and retry behavior
Future Improvements: Add endpoint health monitoring patterns, event filtering examples for high-volume scenarios, queue management guidance for webhook spikes

Question 3: Technical Translation​

Transform the following technical specification into short, user-friendly documentation.

Deliverables: User-friendly explanation, documentation structure suggestions, improvement proposals.

Analysis

Challenge: Transform dry API reference into developer documentation that preserves technical accuracy
Approach: Business-value-first explanation with practical examples and Swan's merchant-focused context

Key Decisions & Implementation​

Content Strategy: Lead with business value over technical abstractions, then dive into practical use-cases
Structure: Explanation evolves in complexity as you read, inline links to related Swan concepts
Developer Experience: Balance technical precision and essential practical implementation use-case
⏱️ Writing Time: 25 minutes (Research 3min → Content 17min → Validation 5min)

Collaboration & Next Steps​

Product: Validate primary use cases to prioritize parameter documentation effectively
Customer Success: Identify common payment link implementation questions from support ticket patterns

Validation: Cross-referenced all field names and GraphQL syntax against Swan's official API reference
Future Improvements: Payment link lifecycle diagram, API responses

Reflection & Next Steps​

My Endeavour:

  • Consistent application of Swan's developer-empathetic voice across all three pieces
  • Strategic use of inline linking to reduce content duplication

If I Had More Time:

  • Proper sandbox testing
  • Deeper integration of Swan's compliance context throughout
  • More comprehensive error scenario coverage