I recently made my first contribution to the LitmusChaos documentation, and it was all about improving the developer experience.
This was also my first ever contribution after joining Harness as a Community Manager for the LitmusChaos community.
In this blog, I want to share the story behind it, what I worked on, why developer experience matters, and how small changes in docs can make a big difference.
A little about my background
Before joining LitmusChaos, I had the opportunity to work with many developer tools and open source projects.
During that time, I noticed one thing: developers don’t just care about features; they care about how easy it is to use them.
And that’s what we call Developer Experience or DX.
What exactly is Developer Experience?
Developer Experience (DX) is all about how developers feel when they interact with your product from the first line of documentation to the final deployment.
A good developer experience means:
- Developers can find what they need quickly.
- Docs are clear and easy to follow.
- The setup is smooth, and errors are explained well.
- It feels effortless to get started and contribute.
Think of it like user experience (UX), but for developers.
When the docs are confusing or poorly structured, it can lead to frustration and wasted time. But when the docs are intuitive, developers become more confident and productive, and that’s how projects grow faster.
What I noticed in the old docs
When I explored the existing documentation, a few things felt a little tricky:
- The docs were not very easy to navigate.
- The top navigation bar had a version manager, but switching between versions was confusing. And it was a bit cluttered.
- The version selector felt disconnected from where users actually manage versions.
And many more things.
What I improved
After exploring the docs and discussing with a few contributors, I decided to focus on improving navigation and structure, so developers could find things faster and with less confusion.
Sidebar redesign
The new sidebar is more readable. You can now see the entire content structure at a glance. It’s easier to find the section you’re looking for.
- Before
- After
Version manager fix
- Moved the version display next to the version manager.
- Now, switching versions feels more natural and intuitive.
Top navigation improvements
- Rearranged items on the right-hand side for better clarity.
- Replaced text-based action items with icons.
- Added a Call-To-Action (CTA) button for important actions. i.e., the "Try Litmus" button.
Announcement bar
Finally, I added an announcement bar at the top of the docs.
It provides quick access to our GitHub repository, making it easier for contributors and users to explore, open issues, or star the project ⭐.
Why These Changes Matter
Documentation is often the first place a developer visits when they’re trying out a project.
If that experience is smooth, they’ll likely:
- Try the tool,
- Recommend it to others, or even
- Become long-term contributors.
That’s the real power of good documentation — it doesn’t just explain your project; it helps grow your community.
Join the Litmus Community
If you’re passionate about open source and want to help improve developer experience, we’d love to have you!
Here’s how you can get involved:
Star the LitmusChaos GitHub repo — it really helps!
Join our Slack community to chat, ask questions, or collaborate.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for tutorials, community calls, and updates. Recently released the "Getting Started with LitmusChaos" Playlist.
Contribute to docs — whether it’s fixing typos, improving content, or adding new pages, every contribution counts.
Wrapping up
This contribution was not just about changing the UI. It was about improving how developers interact with our docs. Even small improvements can make a big difference in usability.
Thanks for sticking with me till the end! I’m excited to continue making Litmus docs even better.
I’ll keep sharing more behind-the-scenes stories about what we’re building in the Litmus community, so stay tuned 🚀
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