Your documentation is a product too

Product documentation, often undervalued and seen as a chore, is essential, especially for developer products where users need seamless integration capabilities. When Thomas Heartman joined Unleash, he encountered significant user feedback regarding the inadequacy of their documentation, which was often difficult to navigate and incorrect. Over six months, improvements were made by treating documentation as a product, akin to software, using user feedback to identify and prioritize documentation bugs. This approach, influenced by Cloudsmith’s practices, included adopting the Diátaxis framework, which offers a structured way to organize and write documentation through clearly defined categories such as "reference guides," "tutorials," "how-tos," and "topic discussions," thus avoiding redundancy and enhancing maintenance. The ongoing effort aims to further develop documentation by integrating features like OpenAPI support for APIs and providing customizable code samples, while actively seeking user feedback for continuous improvement.