People often don’t see the value of writing technical documentation. So some convincing is required.

Here are a few tips for arguing the importance of documentation.

The bottom line

Concern: It’s expensive. Your first tactic in convincing others of the importance of documentation, especially developers and business managers, should be to show them how it makes the company profitable.

Solution: The availability of technical/software documentation saves money. Well-written documents reduce support calls, decrease accidents, and improves each user’s experience with the product. The documents are easy to read and information is easy to find because of good information structuring.

Good documentation makes the product more usable

Concern: Users don’t want to read or use a manual.

Solution: When debating the point with developers or engineers, point out how well-written manuals help more users take advantage of advanced product features.

• Educated users will be more effective at completing tasks.
• They’ll also have a greater appreciation for the design of the product.
• Appeal to the engineer’s ego. They’ll see the importance of documentation if you show them how it makes users have a fuller appreciation of the product’s usefulness.

Carry the burden

Concern: Often a developer, engineer, or manager isn’t arguing so much about the importance of documents. Instead they simply don’t have time to make it a priority. They are often bound to a product release cycle that doesn’t include time for writing technical manuals.

Solution: Lighten their burden, contract a Technical Writer and you might find them more receptive to working with you on documentation.

•  A Technical Writer will offer to schedule an information-gathering interview so that you can pick their brains in one session, and use that time wisely.
• A Technical Writer will ask smart questions and then get to work writing the documentation and trying not to be a pest.

Gather user feedback

Concern: A lack of user feedback can often lead to doubts about the importance of documentation.

Think about it. How often does a user tell you that they’ve had a successful experience with the help or manual? It’s usually the other way around. You hear from users when they can’t find the information they are looking for.

Solution:

• If you want to convince someone of the need for documentation, try implementing a feedback system in your help.
• Ask the Customer Service or Support staff if they have any positive stories or solutions from users regarding the documentation.

Update the product as it develops into the future

Concern: There are always concerns about how the future developments of the software product affect the documentation after it is completed.

Solution: There are a number of ways this can be achieved. Make it easy for your client.

• Keep you on a simple retainer and provide you with update notifications that documentation updates are required.
• Design the document type for easy online updates on the documentation server.
• Additionally, add help desk service call solutions to a live troubleshooting document.

Value of Documentation

Concern: Some people do not accept the value of documentation because they previously had too many negative experiences with poorly written documents. These folks are tough to win over.

Solution: You need to prove a point and create useful content, and over time they will gradually catch on to the value added by good documentation.

• Give them enough good experiences to make up for the bad ones they had.
• Whenever you try to argue the value of documentation, remember to point out that a successful documentation experience is one that you probably will never hear about. Happy users are quiet users.
• Continually edit and tweak the documentation to ensure that it fulfills the needs of the end-user. If there are any complaints fix them.