Introduction
Software documentation provides the support, best practices and instructions users and developers need to understand your software. Whether it’s highly technical API documentation or a simple user manual, creating detailed guides helps people navigate the software.
Documenting software is a challenging project, but this article will share some best practices and examples you can follow to improve the process.
What’s Software Documentation?
Software documentation is a broad term that refers to any documents, diagrams or user manuals intended to help people navigate your software. Technical writers create software documentation by collaborating with developers and project managers to decide which features to explain.
The Scribe Help Center is an example of software documentation. In it, we describe how to use Scribe to automatically generate process documentation, capture screenshots and embed guides into documents. The Help Center also provides troubleshooting tips and best practices for getting the best user experience with the software.
Types of Software Documentation
There are several types of software documentation, and you may need multiple depending on your audience. Some are internal, meant only for the developers, designers and technical writers collaborating on a software product. Others are external, so they’re for users or third-party developers who need to learn how to operate the software.
Here are some of the most common types of documentation.
End-User Documentation
End-user documentation teaches users how to install an application, customize it for their needs and use it regularly. This guide often includes troubleshooting tips and best practices that help people have an optimal user experience. It commonly appears in help centers, printed user manuals and digital docs bundled with software downloads.
Technical Documentation
Technical documentation tells external developers how to interface with an application. The most common type is API documentation, which third-party developers use to identify an API's unique methods and functions.
Teams usually publish technical documentation on an online knowledge base where they can grant access to approved developers.
Architecture Documentation
Architecture documentation outlines the complex network of infrastructure, hardware and software that make an application work. This resource often covers details such as the source code and APIs. Internal developers reference this documentation to learn how a new feature fits into the software’s architecture. Because it includes sensitive information like source code, architecture documentation only belongs in knowledge bases or cloud servers with strict access control.
Software Development Documentation
Software development documentation outlines a proposed plan for building software. It describes all the tasks team members will need to collaborate on and the projected timelines for their completion. Since the information must be available to everyone within an organization, software development documents typically belong in a shared cloud folder.
Design Documents
A design document captures proposals for elements like user experience flows, visual layouts and logo designs. After stakeholders finalize them, technical teams incorporate them into other documents, such as software development or architecture documents.
Benefits of Software Documentation
Writing software documentation can be time consuming and may even require hiring a technical writer, but it’s worth it. Well-written user documentation helps new customers learn about your product. As they learn how to use the software to its full potential, they quickly appreciate its benefits, making them loyal to the program. Meanwhile, existing users will appreciate having quick and ready answers to common troubleshooting questions. As a result, you should experience healthy adoption and retention rates.
The same is true for developer documentation. Interested third-party developers can create integrations and plugins that help end-users get more out of your product, and all you need to do is provide them with the right information. There’s potential for a strong return on investment when they create something for free that brings you new users or delights existing ones.
Software Documentation Challenges
For all its benefits, creating documentation does come with some unique challenges, as it:
- Is a time-consuming process: Creating documentation takes time, since the writer needs to draft the guide and the stakeholders must approve it.
- Is a team effort: Even if you hire a dedicated technical writer, they’ll still need to siphon some time from developers and designers to learn what they need to write about.
- Has to be excellent: The only thing worse than no documentation is poor documentation. Offering people the wrong answers or a frustrating user experience will alienate them faster than if you didn’t offer them anything.
- Requires constant updates: Throughout your software development lifecycle, the product will likely experience many changes. Every update must be reflected in the software documentation, so maintaining software documentation is a long-term commitment.
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Software Documentation Best Practices
To overcome those challenges, follow these tried-and-true best practices:
- Create a style guide: Build a style guide or rely on an industry-standard example like Google’s Developer Documentation to maintain consistent formatting, language and style choices.
- Hire a writer: Working with a dedicated technical writer saves everyone else time and optimizes the software documentation process.
- Record during software development: Include the writer in development meetings where they’ll learn about upcoming feature releases so they can get a head start documenting them.
- Implement a version control system (VCS): If you need to roll back a troublesome feature, a VCS helps you quickly remove the relevant documentation.
- Automate: Download documentation tools like Scribe to streamline the process by generating step-by-step instructions, capturing screenshots and formatting text.
- Use a template: Starting with a documentation template gives you a comprehensive outline to work from. This ensures you don’t miss important information when creating your draft.
Software Documentation Examples: 5 Templates
The following documentation examples cover the most common types of internal and external software guides.
1. How-To Guides
A how-to guide is perhaps the most common type of software documentation. It provides step-by-step instructions to help end-users complete actions in an application, such as setting up an account, sharing an image or customizing a layout. This how-to guide template outlines software basics you can adapt to any process. Headings include:
- Introduction.
- Overview.
- Materials needed.
- Step-by-step instructions.
- Troubleshooting.
- Conclusion.
2. Software User Manual Documentation
Software user manuals are comprehensive user guides that introduce end-users to a program. They cover how to install, use and fix the platform. With this software user manual template, you can create documentation that captures everything users need to know. Headings include:
- Introduction.
- System requirements.
- Installation instructions.
- User interface overview.
- Using [software name].
- FAQs.
- Troubleshooting.
- Contacting support.
3. Process Documentation
Process documentation is an internal document, and businesses use it to standardize the way team members complete tasks. These assignments often involve several tools, such as customer relationship management platforms, design software and project management tools.
This process documentation template helps business leaders create comprehensive, step-by-step instructions for using company software. Headings include:
- Process title.
- Process overview.
- Process steps.
- Inputs.
- Outputs.
- Roles and responsibilities.
- Tools and resources.
- Quality control.
- Challenges and risks.
- Continuous improvement.
4. Product Reference Documentation
A product reference document (PRD) describes an application's intended functionality, user experience and dependencies. It’s important in software development because it explains the team’s goals and outlines the timelines and tasks needed to deliver the project.
This lean PRD template provides a simplified overview team members can use to align their tasks and goals. Headings include:
- Objective.
- Background and assumptions.
- Features and user stories.
- User experience.
- Constraints and dependencies.
- Open questions.
5. IT Documentation
IT documentation is a generic term for any type of technical guide. This IT documentation template offers a versatile structure you can easily repurpose to create architecture outlines, design documents or API reference material. It has space for diagrams and code samples and would translate well to being published on an internal knowledge base. Headings include:
- Product overview.
- Objectives.
- Phases.
Optimize Your Documentation Process With Scribe
High-quality, accessible documentation is an essential ingredient in any software product launch. No matter what type of software documentation you need, Scribe will help you write it.
Scribe captures workflows in real time, turning complex processes into polished, shareable guides for users and team members alike. Simply open the browser extension or desktop app, complete your task and watch as AI instantly creates an editable document.
To see it in action, check out our Software Process Generator tool or sign up for free today.
