Introduction
Documentation refers to written instructions that explain how to use a product or complete a process. Whether addressing common issues or offering deeper insights into features, these guides act as valuable sources of truth. Well-written documentation is key to creating a good experience for employees and users alike.
Read on to learn how to write good documentation that your audience can rely on.
Why Is Writing Good Documentation Important?
Whether you're working on user manuals or software documentation, clear and concise content is a vital resource. Here are some key ways it can benefit your business.
Improves Productivity and Efficiency
Process documentation provides clear guidelines for completing routine tasks, helping employees understand company expectations. Resources like standard operating procedures (SOPs), onboarding tutorials and work instructions ensure everyone knows exactly what to do and how to do it. This saves teams time and allows them to focus on what matters — getting work done effectively.
Encourages Knowledge Transfer
Good documentation organizes knowledge into an accessible, distributable document rather than leaving it locked inside one or two team members’ heads. Relying exclusively on veteran employees or managers to teach everyone what they know requires siphoning off much of their time and productivity. But if leaders have a document to refer people to, they can invest time where they’re needed most.
Enhances the User Experience
Every product, whether a SaaS tool or an API, has a learning curve. No matter how simple you make it, users will need guidance to fully understand your offering. Good documentation does this with step-by-step instructions, simple best practices and concise examples users can reference anytime.
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The Difference Between “Good” and “Bad” Documentation
In many ways, writing bad documentation is worse than not offering any at all. Bad documentation is outdated, confusing and poorly formatted, adding friction to the user experience and steepening the learning curve. But good documentation offers readers a helpful resource filled with accurate instructions and concise advice.
8 Tips for Writing Good Documentation
The following best practices will help you create better documentation that improves the reader’s experience.
1. Know Your Audience
Determine who you’re creating documentation for before you draft anything. With this information in mind, you’ll make smarter decisions about how to phrase instructions.
For instance, if you’re writing technical documentation aimed at developers, you’ll have sections dedicated to coding. But end-users don’t need this level of detail, so if they’re your primary audience, you can just explain how to use your product.
2. Find a Template
Pick a template that includes all the headings you need, such as a table of contents, glossary and list of stakeholders. That way, writing becomes a simple matter of filling in the outline. The Scribe Gallery has a vast library of premade templates that provide a strong starting point for all your project documentation needs.
3. Use Documentation Software
Don’t assume you know everything you're documenting off the top of your head — otherwise, you may miss important information. Instead, rely on documentation software to capture processes automatically.
As you perform a task, Scribe will notate each step and take accompanying screenshots. In the same amount of time it takes you to complete the process, you’ll have a completed guide that’s ready to share. Scribes are also easy to edit, so you can redact sensitive information and personalize each document with company branding.
4. Keep It Simple
Using straightforward language means readers at all levels can quickly grasp the information without unnecessary confusion. This simplicity reduces the likelihood of errors, as readers can easily follow instructions. And if you’re adopting new workplace tools or processes, employees will spend less time deciphering complex terms.
5. Write In Active Voice
Writing documentation in an active voice creates text that's actionable and concise. It takes practice to do it consistently, but you’ll notice a difference when you do.
As a general rule of thumb, use a “subject, verb, object” sentence structure to clarify who’s performing the action and what they’re performing it on. Avoid words like “is” and “be,” which often result in passive sentences that are less action oriented. For example:
- Passive voice: Sentences should be written in active voice.
- Active voice: Write your sentences in active voice.
6. Create a Style Guide
Consistency is vital in documentation writing, as your formatting, word choices and text styles provide crucial clues that help readers interpret what they’re reading. Create a style guide so writers output consistent documents that create a cohesive, intuitive knowledge base. Here are a few common elements of a workplace style guide:
- Clarity: Create guidelines for avoiding jargon and making content easy to understand.
- Headings and subheadings: Define how to use headings to structure content hierarchically.
- Typography: Specify the font, size, line spacing and other text formatting elements to keep pages uniform.
- Consistency: Decide on spelling and capitalization rules for product names, UI elements and technical terms.
- Dos and don’ts: Provide examples of good writing practices and common mistakes to avoid.
7. Test Your Documents
If you’re explaining how to complete a process, walk through it to ensure you cover every step — even ones you may take for granted. For more perspective, ask another team member to test user guides and call out anything you missed. This process makes your documentation as thorough as possible.
8. Maintain Your Resources
Chances are, your processes and products will change over time. When that happens, review your documentation thoroughly so it remains accurate. And to proactively identify and address any outdated information, set a regular review schedule. This means readers will always reference the correct information.
3 of the Best Documentation Tools
With documentation tools, writers can output higher-quality content faster. Some platforms do this through automation that takes over tedious tasks, while others make navigating documents easier. Here are three of the best documentation tools to improve how you write, present and maintain documents.
1. Scribe
Scribe is an automation tool that streamlines the documentation process significantly. Install and open our app on your browser or desktop. Then, let Scribe automatically capture screenshots and generate text instructions for any process you complete on screen. And once you create all your necessary resources, compile them into one knowledge base with Scribe Pages.
Our platform also offers other helpful tools like preformatted templates and AI-powered document generators that output consistent, concise content. No matter what you’re trying to outline, Scribe has resources to support you.
2. Document360
Document360 is a knowledge base platform that lets you publish documents onto a centralized hub. In this database, teams can access embeddable modules (like Scribes) from one location, improving navigation. Document360 also offers an AI-powered search bar to help readers find information.
3. GitBook
GitBook specializes in technical documentation, letting users document complex workflows, provide code examples and troubleshoot errors. And developers can use the software’s live sandbox environments to validate their code and detect errors.
Writing Good Documentation Is Easier With Scribe
All these tools and tips will help you optimize your documentation for your audience’s needs. It’s a lot to remember, but automation tools can help.
Scribe maintains a consistent style and prioritizes simplicity by default, providing a solid foundation for any documentation project. Our platform is also broadly compatible, which makes it easy to integrate into your team’s existing suite of tools.
Try our AI document generator for free to get your documentation project off to a solid start.
