Strategies for writing internal docs at fast-moving organizations

1. M O V E FA S T
A N D D O C U M E N T T H I N G S
S T R A T E G I E S F O R W R I T I N G I N T E R N A L D O C S A T FA S T- M O V I N G O R G A N I Z A T I O N S
R U T H I E B E N D O R
@ U N R U T H L E S S

2. @ U N R U T H L E S S

3. @ U N R U T H L E S S
E X T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S

4. @ U N R U T H L E S S
E X T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S
A P I R E F E R E N C E ! H O W - T O G U I D E S ! S A M P L E A P P S !
FA Q S ! D E V E L O P E R D O C S ! S D K S !

5. @ U N R U T H L E S Scredit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/skylarprimm/9385954331
I N T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S

6. @ U N R U T H L E S Scredit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/skylarprimm/9385954331
I N T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S
R E A D M E S ! U P T I M E D O C S ! W I K I PA G E S !
E M A I L S ! P O S T- I T S !
C O L L E A G U E ’ S
B R A I N !

7. T H E M AT E R I A L S W E C R E AT E F O R O U R C O L L E A G U E S
— A N D F O R O U R F U T U R E S E LV E S ! —
T H AT E N A B L E U S T O B U I L D U P O N O U R W O R K .
@ U N R U T H L E S S
I N T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S :

8. @ U N R U T H L E S S

9. @ U N R U T H L E S S

10. @ U N R U T H L E S S

11. @ U N R U T H L E S S

12. – S L O W - M O V I N G N O N P R O F I T
“We care about internal technical docs because
they help us make our software last as long as possible.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

13. @ U N R U T H L E S S
A N D N O W,
F O R S O M E T H I N G
C O M P L E T E LY
D I F F E R E N T

14. @ U N R U T H L E S S

15. – A G E N C Y
“We care about internal technical docs because
… actually, we don’t.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

16. @ U N R U T H L E S S

17. – S TA R T U P
“We care about internal technical docs because
they help us onboard new staff.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

18. C O M PA N Y
C O M PA N Y
@ U N R U T H L E S S

19. @ U N R U T H L E S S

20. B O S S
B O S S
B O S S < B O S S @ C O M PA N Y. C O M >
C O M PA N Y
@ U N R U T H L E S S

21. B O S S < B O S S @ C O M PA N Y. C O M >
C O M PA N Y
C O M PA N Y
C O M PA N Y
@ U N R U T H L E S S

22. C O M PA N Y P R O D U C T
P R O D U C T
@ U N R U T H L E S S

23. C O M PA N Y P R O D U C T
P R O D U C T
@ U N R U T H L E S S
# S TA R T U P LY F E

24. $ git checkout 56a4e5c08
Note: checking out '56a4e5c08'.
You are in 'detached HEAD' state…
$ _
@ U N R U T H L E S S

25. H O W T O W R I T E I N T E R N A L D O C S
AT FA S T- M O V I N G O R G A N I Z AT I O N S
@ U N R U T H L E S S
in four simple steps

26. F I G U R E O U T W H AT ’ S B R O K E N .
S T E P 1 :
@ U N R U T H L E S S

27. ✓ 100% Pre-Commit Code Review!
✓ Continuous Integration!
✓ Monitoring!
✓ No deploys on Fridays past 4pm!
@ U N R U T H L E S S
T H I N G S T H AT W E R E N O T B R O K E N

28. ✓ Amazing Colleagues!
@ U N R U T H L E S S
T H I N G S T H AT W E R E N O T B R O K E N

29. T H I N G S T H AT W E R E B R O K E N
• Belief that internal technical docs depreciate in value too quickly
R U T H I E B E N D O R
@ U N R U T H L E S S

30. T H I N G S T H AT W E R E B R O K E N
• Belief that internal technical docs depreciate in value too quickly
• Presumption of homogenous technical backgrounds
• Presumption of institutional knowledge
R U T H I E B E N D O R
@ U N R U T H L E S S

31. T H I N G S T H AT W E R E B R O K E N
• Belief that internal technical docs depreciate in value too quickly
• Presumption of homogenous technical backgrounds
• Presumption of institutional knowledge
• No unambiguous“right” way to write internal docs
@ U N R U T H L E S S

32. F I G U R E O U T W H AT ’ S B R O K E N .
S T E P 1 :
@ U N R U T H L E S S

33. F I G U R E O U T W H Y Y O U R O R G A N I Z AT I O N
W I L L C A R E A B O U T F I X I N G I T.
S T E P 2 :
@ U N R U T H L E S S

34. – S L O W - M O V I N G N O N P R O F I T
“We care about internal technical docs because
they help us make our software last as long as possible.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

35. – S TA R T U P
“We care about internal technical docs because
they help us onboard new staff.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

36. – S TA R T U P
“We care about internal technical docs because
they increase bus factor.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

37. – S TA R T U P
“We care about internal technical docs because
they increase bus factor.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

38. – S TA R T U P
“We care about internal technical docs because
________.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

39. – S TA R T U P
“We care about internal technical docs
because we value learning from each other.”
@ U N R U T H L E S S

40. F I G U R E O U T W H Y Y O U R O R G A N I Z AT I O N
W I L L C A R E A B O U T F I X I N G I T.
S T E P 2 :
@ U N R U T H L E S S

41. C O U C H Y O U R S O L U T I O N S I N T H E
O R G A N I Z AT I O N ’ S VA L U E S .
S T E P 3 :
@ U N R U T H L E S S

42. AT E V E RY I N F L E C T I O N P O I N T,
R E E VA L U AT E , R I N S E , R E P E AT.
S T E P 4 :
@ U N R U T H L E S S

43. T H A N K S !
C O M E S A Y H I !
I ’ M R U T H I E B E N D O R .
S L A C K + T W I T T E R : @ U N R U T H L E S S
E M A I L : R U T H I E @ U N R U T H L E S S . C O M