How to Write Documentation π
An extensive, 360Β° guide about crafting effective product, tech and company docs.
Organizing knowledge is one of my obsessions.
Today, this is a core part of my work as a writer, but even in my previous life, as a CTO, I invested a lot of energy into processes that enabled good, sustainable docs.
I have written many articles about this β but they mostly cover specific angles (e.g. design docs, or meeting docs), so I thought this was a perfect topic for the second of our guides.
In the past few weeks I've talked with a ton of tech leaders, read plenty of case studies, and reflected on my own experience about tech documentation. So here is what we will cover today:
π Benefits of docs β these are non-trivial and crucial to understand.
π How to write successful docs β strategies to craft useful docs and make people stick with them.
π·οΈ Types of docs β we talk about product docs, design docs, specs, and code comments.
πΒ Docs cheatsheet β we summarize all the advice into a few easy steps.
π¨ Tools β the five best tools for writing modern docs.
π Resources β additional readings and case studies to learn more.
Letβs dive in!