Traditional software documents are created from the top down. Figure out who will be doing what with the software, then write documents aimed at each category of users, explaining how to use every bit of functionality they should (theoretically) need to use. This method really doesn’t fit in well with modern software design. So how can we use basic concepts from Agile methodology to develop Agile documentation?
Agile documentation isn’t that hard once you get your head around applying software development methodology and concepts to technical writing. Here are a few tips for making your documentation truly agile.
It’s variously known as ‘docs like code’, ‘documentation as code’ and ‘docs as code’, but the basic ideas stay the same: treating documentation just like you’d treat your programming code.
The software industry has largely moved to Agile methodologies over the last decade. However, many businesses often struggle to deliver documentation using the same agile methodology that works so well for their code. Let’s delve into a few of the reasons for this.