𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝘀 𝗔 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
Documentation is not separate from your product. It is part of the product.
Many developers follow a flawed pattern:
- Build the feature.
- Test the feature.
- Ship the feature.
- Document the feature.
Users do not experience your code. They experience your interface, your workflows, and your documentation. To a user, documentation is a feature.
Creators neglect documentation because they already understand the product. You know why you made certain decisions. You know how the API works. You know the shortcuts.
The user does not. What feels obvious to you feels mysterious to them.
Treat repeated questions as documentation debt. If people ask the same question twice, you have a problem. Either your product is confusing or your docs are incomplete. Sometimes you need to fix the API. Often, you need to fix the docs.
Good documentation reduces friction. It answers these questions quickly:
- What is this?
- Why should I use it?
- How do I start?
- What is the best approach?
- What is a simple example?
The goal is not completeness. The goal is momentum.
Great documentation teaches patterns and intent. It explains why a framework works a certain way. This makes users more effective.
Documentation impacts your business in quiet ways:
- Adoption rates.
- Onboarding speed.
- Support costs.
- Community growth.
- Developer experience.
You cannot see the impact of good docs easily. You notice the absence of bad docs immediately.
Remember that documentation is also for you. It preserves your knowledge for future versions of yourself. It records decisions so you do not have to rediscover answers months later.
Product quality and documentation quality are linked.
- Confusing software needs more documentation.
- Clear software needs less.
- Good documentation reveals bad design.
Stop treating documentation as an afterthought. Use it to force clarity. Clarity improves your design. Improved design improves your product.
Source: https://dev.to/stinklewinks/documentation-is-a-feature-228n