The document discusses measuring documentation success through defining goals, metrics, and iterating based on measurements. It encourages describing goals for different document types in a way that is countable and measurable, like the number of downloads or questions answered. The key takeaways are to collaboratively define success metrics, measure and analyze performance, then revise documentation goals and processes based on the results.
IAC 2024 - IA Fast Track to Search Focused AI Solutions
Write what counts. Count What Counts.
1. Bob Watson, Ph.D.
Senior Technical Writer
Amazon Web Services
Write what counts.
Count what counts.
@bobwatsonphd
bobw@docsbydesign.com
bobwatso@amazon.com
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
May 6, 2020
3. You won’t learn
how to measure
everything
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
4. This talk is about
external
performance
metrics
Performance
ForensicInternal
External
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
6. Describe the
success you
want to see
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
7. Describe how
docs contribute
to that success
Docs
Success
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
10. Goals
MetricsTech
Describe your
goal in a way that
is countable and
collectable
Can you describe it?
Can you collect it? Can you count it?
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
12. Goals
MetricsTech.
Iterate on goals,
metrics, and tech
Can you describe it?
Can you count it?Can you collect it?
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
27. Describe the success you want to track
Collaborate on the descriptions
Describe that success in a way that is countable and collectable
Know what writing success looks like to help you create and measure it
Develop your system for iteration and improvement
Create, measure, iterate, and improve!
Takeaways
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
28. • https://docsbydesign.com/category/technical-writing/audience-market-product/
• https://youtu.be/ax_6cS3JHvY
• https://docsbydesign.com/category/technical-writing/reader-goals/
• https://docsbydesign.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/Watson_UsingReadersAndOrganizationsGoals.pdf
• Brandt, J., Guo, P.J., Lewenstein, J., Dontcheva, M., Klemmer, S.R.: Two studies of opportunistic
programming: interleaving web foraging, learning, and writing code. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, pp. 1589–1598 (2009)
• https://docsbydesign.com/category/technical-writing/measuring-value/
• https://docsbydesign.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/SIGDOC2014_CogDimForDocEstimate_PosterPaper.pdf
References
API the DocsVirtualConference 2020
bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd