tech writing in a continuous deployment environment
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CHRISTINE BURWINKLE • IX TEAM LEAD • ATLASSIAN
Tech writing in a continuous deployment world
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Hello!
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About me• Team lead for tech writers
at Atlassian• Previously: • Employed at HP• Worked in DITA/XML
• M.S. in Tech Comm from Northeastern University
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So… let’s talk about
terminology
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Continuous deployment - what does this mean? • A philosophy/approach• All about short cycles and getting features out quickly• Get customer feedback during dev cycle• Ship small pieces experimentally or in phases
• Code in production-ready state• Shipping relies on a deployment pipeline• Allows n releases per day
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Getting customer feedback during the dev cycle
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Continuous deployment is not• Agile• Continuous integration• Continuous delivery
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What does all this mean for a
tech writer?
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What this can mean for tech writers• More uncertainty• Developers don’t necessarily know when a feature will be released• Product managers don’t necessarily know when a feature will be released• In fact, a feature can be released “magically”
• Documenting small pieces of work means that we have to become more efficient• Adapt to shifts in feature designs• Fewer (any?) “big” releases• Lots more work to track
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What have we done to adapt?
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1 - A mental shift• Features over releases• Releases become a parallel milestone to track• This aligns with how customers think anyway
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Rel
ease
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2 - Tooling can help. A lot. • It’s vital to be able to adapt to changes quickly• The right processes can help keep docs production-ready (just like code)
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3 - The quest for a doc MVP• MVP = Minimal Viable Product• In product often means shipping in iterations
• What does this mean for doc? • Release notes > doc• Notes, banners > rewrites• Being transparent with customers helps• Feedback channels are vital
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4 - Killing doc debt is key• Being ruthless about screenshots• Being ruthless about isolating information - say it once!• Blitzes can be effective for big changes
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5 - Finding balance between control & freedom• Keeping doc review processes lean helps writers respond more quickly • Multiple review cycles seem unlikely to hold up • Hiring and empowering the right people is key
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What are we still learning?
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The right balance for iterations• Experiments, labs, and opt-in features are still tricky beasts
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Resources & velocity• Resource-heavy content (like videos, tutorials) are even harder to maintain• Velocity on long-term projects is harder to maintain
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What does MVD look like? • Define some guidelines and ideas for
minimally viable docs
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Using in-app help• Including information in app can help lighten
the doc load
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Defining a documentation pipeline• Automating doc publication• What are the right channels? • Tooling/technology requirements• Domain knowledge requirements
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Other resources
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Interesting reading• http://blogs.atlassian.com/2014/04/practical-continuous-deployment/• https://puppetlabs.com/blog/continuous-delivery-vs-continuous-deployment-whats-diff• http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/03/continuous-deployment-5-eas.html• http://www.wired.com/2013/04/linkedin-software-revolution/