Introduction
Technical documentation is more than a set of Markdown files — it is a strategic asset. Good documentation preserves knowledge, accelerates onboarding, reduces risks, and supports overall technical quality. Yet in many organizations, documentation exists… without truly living. It becomes outdated, unused, or inconsistent.
This article proposes a clear, operational, and reusable plan for establishing a lasting documentation framework.
1. Why Adopt a Documentation Framework?
Without structure and clear ownership, documentation naturally drifts into irrelevance. A formal documentation framework ensures that:
each document is useful and reader-focused,
ownership is clearly assigned,
a consistent writing style is maintained,
documentation is treated like code: versioned, reviewed, validated.
In short: documentation becomes a product, not an afterthought.
2. Goals of the Documentation Framework
2.1 User-Centered Documentation
Every document must be designed for a well-defined audience:
internal developers,
QA, DevOps, architects,
external partners,
integrators or non-technical stakeholders.
Tone, depth, and examples should be tailored to these readers.
2.2 Write Documentation Alongside Development
Documentation should be produced as work happens, not after the fact. It must capture:
technical decisions,
non-obvious behaviors,
architectural constraints,
discovered pitfalls or ambiguities.
Writing early → writing accurately.
2.3 Transparency and Clarity
Anything that is not obvious should be explained, including:
architectural choices,
trade-offs,
complex domain concepts,
known limitations.
Documentation should reduce uncertainty, not increase it.
3. Use the Diátaxis Documentation Model
The Diátaxis model is a modern and widely adopted framework for structuring technical documentation. It categorizes documents into four complementary types:
Tutorials — step-by-step learning for beginners
How-To Guides — targeted problem-solving steps
Reference — factual information (APIs, schema, parameters)
Explanation — conceptual, contextual, high-level knowledge
Each new document should fit into one of these categories to ensure:
intuitive structure,
consistent organization,
predictable navigation.
The Diátaxis Compass helps authors choose the correct type.
4. Recommended Document Structure
An effective document follows a hierarchy from the most essential to the most specific:
Summary / Objective
Target Audience
Quick Start (for external or on-boarding readers)
Primary Use Cases
Key Considerations
Examples (simple → advanced)
Related Resources
Glossary & Acronyms
This structure helps readers quickly find what they need.
5. Style & Quality Guidelines
A good documentation framework ensures uniformity and readability.
🧭 Recommended Style Guidelines
Use clear, simple English.
Prefer short sentences and concrete examples.
Define all acronyms (or link to the glossary).
Minimize screenshots (they break easily as the UI evolves).
Use text-based diagrams (e.g., PlantUML) when possible.
Highlight critical information.
Maintain consistent navigation and structure.
Enforce a file-naming convention.
Split documents when they become too large.
🛠️ Recommended Quality Tools
Vale — a prose linter to enforce style rules.
Documentation CI/CD — link checking, validation, automated diagram generation.
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Established editorial guidelines from:
- Microsoft
- Red Hat
These ensure long-term consistency across contributors.
6. Templates & Processes
To maintain long-term coherence, teams need:
official templates for each Diátaxis document type,
a documentation onboarding guide,
a structured review workflow,
a centralized glossary driven by a recognized system (e.g., The Good Docs Project Terminology System).
The templates from The Good Docs Project are a strong and reliable foundation.
7. Implementation Plan
To successfully introduce a documentation framework, follow these steps:
Define the documentation types to adopt.
Create and distribute official templates.
Set up documentation CI/CD checks.
Build and maintain a unified glossary.
Define an on-boarding workflow for new contributors.
Establish a formal documentation review policy.
This transforms documentation into a structured, living ecosystem.
8. Managing Assets: Images, Diagrams & External Resources
To avoid broken or unmaintainable documents:
Never embed externally hosted images → store them locally.
Always commit source files for diagrams (e.g.,
.drawio,.puml).Document build or export steps when relevant.
This guarantees future-proofing and ease of updates.
Limits & Considerations
Formalizing documentation raises key organizational questions:
✔ Definition of Done
Is a task truly “done” if it isn’t documented?
✔ Measuring Documentation Quality
Are people actually using the documentation?
✔ Resourcing
Documentation requires time, tools, and training — this must be acknowledged and supported.
Conclusion
A structured documentation framework is not bureaucratic overhead. It is a strategic investment that improves:
technical resilience,
development speed,
on boarding efficiency,
knowledge continuity.
By adopting a model like Diátaxis, defining templates, enforcing a consistent style, and integrating documentation into CI/CD, organizations can turn documentation from a fragile necessity into a scalable, reliable operational asset.
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