From Chaos to Clarity: Lessons learnt on the Importance of Documentation

Recently, I was writing a module with multiple APIs for a new project. I started with the fundamental API. The team had multiple rounds of discussions. I put in hours writing code, testing, and debugging.

When I raised the PR, it went through rigorous reviews (as it happens with any new functionality module), until finally the changes were merged and deployed.

But in the next meeting with the Business team, we realized that we missed a major point in the earlier discussions. And one missed point translated into reworking the whole API from scratch.

It became clear that without a structured approach, we risked falling into the same cycle of rework again. The solution that saved us was documentation.

The functionality was complex and difficult to grasp at once, and therefore, there's a high chance we'll go through the cycle of rework repeatedly.

After the meetings, I created a detailed document capturing:

• My understanding of the functionality from all prior discussions.
• The proposed API details and workflow to support the functionality.

I shared this document with all stakeholders — developers, my SPOC, the Product Manager, Backend Leads, and our Engineering Manager. This opened the floor for collective feedback, corrections, and even better suggestions for the API flow.

We decided to pause all coding work until the documentation was finalized and approved. Once everyone aligned on the functionality and API structure, I restarted development. This time, the process was much smoother:

• I had a solid reference point to resolve any confusion.
• Most potential blockers had already been addressed during the documentation phase.
• The overall development aligned seamlessly with the agreed functional flow.

Looking back, I realized how one well-structured document saved me hours of frustration, rework, and repeated discussions. It gave me clarity, reduced my mental load, and gave my team a single source of truth to rely on.

My takeaway (and advice to you): Don’t treat documentation as an afterthought. Use it as your first step.
If it worked for me in a complex API module, it can work for you too — no matter what you’re building.
Start documenting more, and you’ll see the difference it makes in your speed, clarity, and confidence as a developer.