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M O V E FA S T A N D D O C U M E N T T H I N G SS T R A T E G I E S F O R W R I T I N G I N T E R N A L D O C S A T FA S T- M O V I N G O R G A N I Z A T I O N S

R U T H I E B E N D O R @ U N R U T H L E S S

@ U N R U T H L E S S


E X T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S


E X T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S

A P I R E F E R E N C E ! H O W - T O G U I D E S ! S A M P L E A P P S !

FA Q S ! D E V E L O P E R D O C S ! S D K S !

@ U N R U T H L E S Scredit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/skylarprimm/9385954331

I N T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S

@ U N R U T H L E S Scredit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/skylarprimm/9385954331

I N T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S

R E A D M E S ! U P T I M E D O C S ! W I K I PA G E S !

E M A I L S ! P O S T- I T S ! C O L L E A G U E ’ S B R A I N !

T H E M AT E R I A L S W E C R E AT E F O R O U R C O L L E A G U E S — A N D F O R O U R F U T U R E S E LV E S ! —

T H AT E N A B L E U S T O B U I L D U P O N O U R W O R K .


I N T E R N A L T E C H N I C A L D O C S :

– S L O W - M O V I N G N O N P R O F I T

“We care about internal technical docs because they help us make our software last as long as possible.”



A N D N O W, F O R S O M E T H I N G

C O M P L E T E LY D I F F E R E N T

– A G E N C Y

“We care about internal technical docs because … actually, we don’t.”


– S TA R T U P

“We care about internal technical docs because they help us onboard new staff.”


C O M PA N Y

C O M PA N Y


B O S S

B O S S

B O S S < B O S S @ C O M PA N Y. C O M >

C O M PA N Y


mailto:[email protected]?subject=

B O S S < B O S S @ C O M PA N Y. C O M >

C O M PA N Y

C O M PA N Y

C O M PA N Y


mailto:[email protected]?subject=

C O M PA N Y P R O D U C T

P R O D U C T


C O M PA N Y P R O D U C T

P R O D U C T


# S TA R T U P LY F E

$ git checkout 56a4e5c08Note: checking out '56a4e5c08'.

You are in 'detached HEAD' state…

$ _


H O W T O W R I T E I N T E R N A L D O C S AT FA S T- M O V I N G O R G A N I Z AT I O N S


in four simple steps

F I G U R E O U T W H AT ’ S B R O K E N .

S T E P 1 :


✓ 100% Pre-Commit Code Review!

✓ Continuous Integration!

✓ Monitoring!

✓ No deploys on Fridays past 4pm!


T H I N G S T H AT W E R E N O T B R O K E N

✓ Amazing Colleagues!


T H I N G S T H AT W E R E N O T B R O K E N

T H I N G S T H AT W E R E B R O K E N

• Belief that internal technical docs depreciate in value too quickly




• Presumption of homogenous technical backgrounds

• Presumption of institutional knowledge




• Presumption of homogenous technical backgrounds

• Presumption of institutional knowledge

• No unambiguous“right” way to write internal docs


F I G U R E O U T W H AT ’ S B R O K E N .

S T E P 1 :


F I G U R E O U T W H Y Y O U R O R G A N I Z AT I O N W I L L C A R E A B O U T F I X I N G I T.

S T E P 2 :


– S L O W - M O V I N G N O N P R O F I T

“We care about internal technical docs because they help us make our software last as long as possible.”


– S TA R T U P

“We care about internal technical docs because they help us onboard new staff.”


– S TA R T U P

“We care about internal technical docs because they increase bus factor.”


– S TA R T U P

“We care about internal technical docs because ________.”


– S TA R T U P

“We care about internal technical docs because we value learning from each other.”


F I G U R E O U T W H Y Y O U R O R G A N I Z AT I O N W I L L C A R E A B O U T F I X I N G I T.

S T E P 2 :


C O U C H Y O U R S O L U T I O N S I N T H E O R G A N I Z AT I O N ’ S VA L U E S .

S T E P 3 :


AT E V E R Y I N F L E C T I O N P O I N T, R E E VA L U AT E , R I N S E , R E P E AT.

S T E P 4 :


T H A N K S !C O M E S A Y H I !

I ’ M R U T H I E B E N D O R .

S L A C K + T W I T T E R : @ U N R U T H L E S S

E M A I L : R U T H I E @ U N R U T H L E S S . C O M

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