I wrote a piece earlier today about the kick-ass on-boarding process at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 3D Print Exchange API--within two clicks I had my API key and was making an API call. To contrast this post I wanted to provide an example of how not to on-board with an API.
I am always amazed at how hard people make it to sign up and play with an API in 2015. Today's example of on-boarding with the most friction you can imagine comes from the Garmin Wellness API--I think their API signup form speaks for itself.
I understand you are worried about what people might do with your API, but that is kind of the whole point of doing an API. If you are looking to encourage innovation on your API, this is not how you want to on-board your developers, and make a first impression.
There are other ways to manage API integrations without restricting users from day one. Make sure and help make API on-boarding as frictionless as possible, there is no reason to use a form like Garmin has.
