Move Fast and Document Things

Strategies for writing internal docs at fast-moving organizations. Email me for the speaker notes!

Transcript

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 S credit: 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 S credit: 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