Best Practices on How to Write Quality Technical Documentation for Your Project

Noted tech specifications can help you during work and optimize time. But whose duty is to write technical documentation in the app development process? Let’s talk about it.

What is Technical Documentation?

In the context of development, technical documentation is a broad term that includes all documented material relevant to the development process.

Absolutely any development product requires the creation of an appropriate structured document. Throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC), various types of documents are created. Thus, the main purpose of technical documentation is to explain the functionality of the product, unify design information, and allows to discuss all important issues that arise between the parties.

Since errors in the technical documentation lead to diverging views and approaches in the work, it is important to pay great attention to this part of the work. Technical documentation is needed in order to estimate the development cost and agree on the functionality of the future system, or at least the boundaries of functionality so that a development estimate can be made. When disputes arise over the cost and timing of the development of a particular functional part of the system, it is the technical documentation that acts as a guarantor for one of the parties. If there is a need for development or revision, it helps to facilitate the revision process by giving an understanding of how it is possible to integrate new functionality into the system.

 If we talk about development for government organizations or implementation of development directly by a government organization, then you need to understand that their activities are regulated by supervisory authorities and are subject to laws. In this case, the development should take place in accordance with all existing rules and standards. For such projects, the availability of technical documentation compiled in accordance with the relevant standards is a prerequisite.

An important role is also played by the fact that technical documentation, if it is competently drawn up and relevant, helps each participant in the development process to quickly get answers to questions about specific tasks or about the system as a whole.

Types of Tech Documents

Among the most common types of technical documentation, manuals for users and manuals for use can be noted. Let's consider them in more detail.

User guides

This type of documentation helps the technical documentation used to use specific software or hardware. Such documentation should contain clear information on all major issues faced by a potential user. This also includes information about potential problems and solutions. The user should have a clear idea of ​​the product and its potential.

Product Guides

It is created to provide a complete description of a product, from basic features to service nuances and more. Create maintenance to avoid troubles.

API documentation

Here you can find instructions on Effective Use of Equipment (SCPI), Web API, or Software API. It also contains information about classes, functions, arguments, etc. Supported by examples and tutorials. Such documentation should help clients and users to simplify their interaction with the code.

Why You Should Use Technical Documentation

If the company has well-organized processes for alienating intellectual property and sharing knowledge, then all project participants are automatically made “conditionally replaceable”.

Why it's good and why it's worth striving for:

• This compensates well for the company's risks when the participants leave the project.
• This is useful for the team, because in the absence of a colleague, you can substitute without prejudice to the project.
• This is good for the employee because it makes it much easier to transfer cases to followers.
• This is bad for an“ irreplaceable ”employee who is afraid of losing his job.

If you do not want to face the problems of finalizing the project, especially when expanding the staff, the availability of documentation. Any competent developer or technical writer can compose it. It also can be a part of your project management teams.

It is also important to consider the complexity of the project, for complex multicomponent systems this is simply a necessity. Because the documentation describes how to wire these pieces together or what database/network/server requirements are needed to support the systems. You can create a template checklist to optimize technical writing in the future.

When It Is Best to Create Technical Documentation

Good documentation makes it easy to find a new developer on the team. You will be able to simplify his onboarding and increase efficiency. Make it a habit to update the documentation at the end of each team member's working day, according to the established formatting standards, and you will be pleasantly surprised with the result.

It is important to clearly understand what information will be relevant in the future and focus on it. Software specifications serve as guides for front-end developers, programmers who write code, and testers who verify that a program works as planned. The exact information depends on the product itself.  Great technical documentation is your lucky ticket.

How to Plan and Write Technical Documentation

Start by identifying the person in charge. Most often, the authorship of technical documents belongs to specialized specialists or a technical writer who has the skill to translate technical documentation in a language that is understandable even for a client who does not have a technical background.

Step 1. Analyze projects and create documentation plan 

It all starts with research, so determine the goals and scope of the work ahead. The technical team working on it can help you with this. Here you should also take into account for whom you are writing the documentation (technical specialist or user), indicating the content in the abstract.

Step 2. Structure design

The purpose of any technical documentation is to make it as user-friendly as possible. And this is achieved thanks to good navigation structure and consistent design.

Therefore, it is important to think over the design of the pages and the design features of the entire document in order to withstand the fucking style and readability. Add visuals as needed.

Step 3. Create content

Start with a draft so you can spot weaknesses and information gaps. After the backbone of the text is compiled, you can make a list of the missing information and give the text for fact-checking to the technical specialists.

Step 4. Deliver technical documentation

It is necessary to check the documentation in a so-called focus group. These may be technicians from other projects. Don't forget to check the document navigation and click links. You can involve testers if the document contains any parts of the code or specific parts. 

Step 5. Schedule your updates

Your job does not end with the publication of technical documentation. All content must be checked and updated when new products or versions are released. Therefore, consider the frequency of documentation revisions and ask for help to write technical specialists for this project.

What Makes a Quality Technical Documentation

Technical documentation works as a tool for making understanding of all sides of the project clear and readable. Anyone who tackles it must understand what they are talking about and look for everything they need.

So, among the main features of good documentation:

• Efficiency and organization should be at the head of all processes. Write according to the structure agreed in the team to avoid misunderstandings.
• Up-to-date information is extremely important, so please ensure that your technical documentation is up-to-date.
• In addition to being understandable, you need the persistence of your brand. Even style guides should be taken care of.
• The usability and adaptability of the type of documentation also matter. It should open seamlessly on any device and not distort when displayed.

Conclusions

Correct and complete technical documentation is an extremely valuable and important resource for projects. With a fully structured information and/or documentation template, the team can perform their functions as efficiently as possible and introduce new employees to the project much faster. This is even more significant if you plan to scale your project.

Also, consider the purpose of each type of documentation. So, for product owners and customers, they should include the business side, and if we are talking about documentation for developers, then all the details are important here, up to the deadlines.

All this will help optimize the work time when you need to deal with bugs or analyze work on a similar project. You can ask your project manager or tech lead to creating documentation.

Remember that the guarantee of adequate shadow documentation is in the interaction of the team and the personal responsibility of each of its members.