# [[Developer Advocacy Models]] ![[Developer Advocacy Models.svg]] On this page are some [[Mental models|Mental model]] or frameworks for strategizing about [[Developer Relations]] activities within a company. ## Metrics-based models ### [[Monthly Active Developers]] (MAD) The MAD model involves optimising for a single "North Star" metric that includes how many users are accessing the product in a given month. ## [[The Orbit Model]] The Orbit Model, created by [[Orbit]], is an approach to Developer Advocacy that is focused on prioritising genuine connections with the community. ## [[Funnels]]-based models Funnels-based approaches tend to follow the same pattern: - They start with a large, wide "mouth" that represents the largest amount of potential users. - They gradually narrow, as users self-select and only the more passionate users increase their involvement with the product. - They end with a small but passionate amount of users that are [[Superfans]]. ### [[The Developer Journey Map]] The Developer Journey Map is a model creatd by [[DevRel Agency]] that identifies goals for Dev Advocacy based on the stage of the [[Funnels|funnel]] that a user is in. ### [[AAARRRP]] The AAARRRP model is adapted from [[AARRR pirate metrics]] for startups. ### [[Mary Thengvall's buckets]] This model simplifies the funnel into *Awareness*, *Enablement*, and *Community*. %% ### [[Grafana Labs (company)]] We use a similar model: ![[grafana-developer-advocacy-model.png]] %% ## Flywheel-based models %% Funnels vs flywheels? Both. But it may be that you talk about one with management/execs or the other with community-based folks. [[Explaining Results at Different Levels]] %% ### [[The DevRel Flywheel]] The DevRel Flywheel is a model that is focuses on small, easy activities that generate comparatively large impacts. The model better represents the cyclical nature of DevRel effort and the need to have multiple goals (as opposed to Funnels-based approaches, which tend to focus on a single goal). ### Champions programs ## [[Build Your Own Strategy for Developer Advocacy]] This model, by [[Viam]], emphasises the importance of right-sizing a team's strategy based on factors such as the stage of growth of the company, the company culture, and the team's existing set of skills. ## General tips - ==Actually use your product.== Be your own users. [[Vercel]] encourages their engineers to spend "Vercel hours" watching livestreams of people using Vercel so they can find out what the pain points are. [^lin] - Go where your developers are. This may mean that your team starts out as a [[Monolith]], then follows more of a [[Microservices|microservices-based]] approach as the community does, too ([[Conway's Law]]). [^lin] - Always be testing. You're testers for your product. Make sure to try out new features and feed that back to the engineering teams. [^lin] %% # Text Elements # Drawing ```json { "type": "excalidraw", "version": 2, "source": "https://github.com/zsviczian/obsidian-excalidraw-plugin/releases/tag/2.1.4", "elements": [ { "id": "4y8R7iOA", "type": "text", "x": 118.49495565891266, "y": -333.44393157958984, "width": 3.8599853515625, "height": 24, "angle": 0, "strokeColor": "#1e1e1e", "backgroundColor": "transparent", "fillStyle": "solid", "strokeWidth": 2, "strokeStyle": "solid", "roughness": 1, "opacity": 100, "groupIds": [], "frameId": null, "roundness": null, "seed": 967149026, "version": 2, "versionNonce": 939059582, "isDeleted": true, "boundElements": null, "updated": 1713723615080, "link": null, "locked": false, "text": "", "rawText": "", "fontSize": 20, "fontFamily": 4, "textAlign": "left", "verticalAlign": "top", "containerId": null, "originalText": "", "lineHeight": 1.2 } ], "appState": { "theme": "dark", "viewBackgroundColor": "#ffffff", "currentItemStrokeColor": "#1e1e1e", "currentItemBackgroundColor": "transparent", "currentItemFillStyle": "solid", "currentItemStrokeWidth": 2, "currentItemStrokeStyle": "solid", "currentItemRoughness": 1, "currentItemOpacity": 100, "currentItemFontFamily": 4, "currentItemFontSize": 20, "currentItemTextAlign": "left", "currentItemStartArrowhead": null, "currentItemEndArrowhead": "arrow", "scrollX": 583.2388916015625, "scrollY": 573.6323852539062, "zoom": { "value": 1 }, "currentItemRoundness": "round", "gridSize": null, "gridColor": { "Bold": "#C9C9C9FF", "Regular": "#EDEDEDFF" }, "currentStrokeOptions": null, "previousGridSize": null, "frameRendering": { "enabled": true, "clip": true, "name": true, "outline": true } }, "files": {} } ``` %% [^lin] Lin, Joyce. (2024). *From seed to scale - DevRel strategies across the business cycle*. Talk given at DevRelCon 2024 in New York. [[From Seed to Scale - DevRel Strategies across the Business Cycle]].