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We can all show up and fill 8 hours.How do we decide what work is really meaningful?How do we prioritize our time?

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To put it more succintly…

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Not this exact box, but same era. https://flic.kr/p/6LcMCw

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Docs, engineering, and PM were in sunny Menlo Park

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https://flic.kr/p/ec6mMD

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https://flic.kr/p/djAYqc

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This was an extreme example, but the reality is that if documentation and support are kept separated and rarely communicate then we aren’t providing good service to our customershttps://flic.kr/p/9a6U6Z

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The docs need to answer real customer questionshttps://flic.kr/p/2yavu

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Ticket deflection?Often named as a goal for docs, but deflection isn’t the right idea…https://flic.kr/p/9xRXiJhttps://flic.kr/p/4gNn2b

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We don’t want customers to shut up and go awayWe want their feedback!We need to make sure we address their questions where and when they want answershttps://flic.kr/p/8e4gZe

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Answering your customers’ questions, letting them use your product effectively and get their jobs done makes for happy customersHappy customers renew; happy customers buy more; happy customers say nice things about your producthttps://flic.kr/p/dXEzZp

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A few years ago, I went to a meetup at a very large company (not write the docs!)There were two presenters, one from customer support, another from the documentation team

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I asked whether they were using the same tools, were sharing content…

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https://flic.kr/p/4vozZ

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https://flic.kr/p/YLNbG

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They very patiently, and slowly, explained to me…https://flic.kr/p/4vozZ

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Why? Why do this extra work? It’s wasting time, and wasting money. How does the customer know where to go to find answers?https://flic.kr/p/4vozZ

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More work, lower quality (at least, lower than it could be)

https://flic.kr/p/bBukwy

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If you don’t know what your customers are asking about, how they use the product, then you’re creating what you THINK is good documentationMaybe your instincts are great, but after 20 years as a tech writer I’ve learned to NOT trust my instincts; get the data!

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Why doesn’t the documentation answer my questions?What am I paying for?https://flic.kr/p/72iDT

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Customer Support uses your documentation to learn about the productWhy doesn’t the documentation answer the right questions?https://flic.kr/p/4bC5G8

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Build a relationshipNot just their names, but what they focus on, their areas of expertiseWork with their manager to make knowledge capture a part of the support team’s goals

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Look for types of tickets: ”How do I…”, “I want to...”, “I’ve look at the documentation but...”

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Support ticketing systems support categories; you might need to customize this and add Documentation, as a category or a separate tagHave anything assigned to Documentation (or tagged) automatically send you a notification (or even assign it to you)

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What’s the level of expertise across customers?What vocabulary do they use? Does this match your terminology, or do you need to change to increase understanding?Remember that support speaks with customers every day

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Look for the number of Documentation or Question tickets coming inAre there a lot? Is there a trend? New vs. Experienced customers?

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Do they have a knowledge base? Mine it!Better yet, build ONE source of truth!https://www.flickr.com/photos/multnomahcountylibrary

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Don’t underestimate them; they communicate with customers much more frequently than you do!Give them creditShow them their information is being used in the documentation, give them a sense of ownership

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Don’t give them a huge style guide to followOvercome the fear of the blank pageHelps organize their thoughtsEnsures consistencyCustomers see familiar organization

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Make them valued reviewers and documentarian partners

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Look for change: number and type of “documentation” and “question” ticketsAre the questions getting more complex, more frequent?

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Your customers don’t care about your company structureSilos don’t help you or your customershttps://flic.kr/p/4vhAFD

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Build a culture of information sharingYou want people feeding information to you, not having to play detective every dayhttps://flic.kr/p/a9tDjq

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The more we do this, the better you can prioritize your tasks and deliver docs that really help your customersUse the input from support to set the documentation priorities and build a roadmap for the docsThis will change your prioritiesThis will make more work for youYou are a product owner; your product is documentation

https://flic.kr/p/debvm

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This is the goal: better, more concise docs that meet customer needsThis is how we prioritize our tasks and make our work worthwhile. Because we don’t want to just move the needle…

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https://flic.kr/p/4PTZpe

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