Heavy Networking 660: Writing The Manual – An Insider’s View Of Product Documentation

We’ve all heard the expression “Read the f****** manual.” It’s good advice because you can often get your questions answered by documentation that’s been expressly written to tell you how a product works. Not always, of course. Some documentation is better than others. But good or bad, that documentation doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. A person or team of people have to write it. On today’s Heavy Networking we get inside the process of technical writing and product documentation from a person deep in the trenches of creating docs. We also talk about why writing as a skill might be worth cultivating even if you aren’t responsible for creating the manual. My guest is Pete Lumbis, Principal Documentation Engineer at Upbound. We discuss: * The role of a documentation engineer * The documentation process * Working with stakeholders including engineers, developers, marketers, and customers * The writing pipeline * Dealing with the perception that documentation isn’t “technical” * Writing tips and tools for engineers * More Sponsor: ITProTV Start or grow your IT career with online training with ITProTV. Learn IT, pass your certs, and get a great job! Visit itpro.tv/packetpushers and use the promo code PACKETPUSHERS at checkout to get 30% off all plans. Sponsor: Internet Society Getting Internet access from low-earth-orbit satellites has great promise for addressing the digital divide, supporting disaster response, and creating new opportunities for communication. If you’re curious how about these systems work as well as the technological, and policy implications download the free whitepaper “Perspectives on Low Earth Orbit Satellite Systems for Internet access” by the Internet Society. Just go internetsociety.org/packetpushers. Show Links: Pete Lumbis on LinkedIn @PeteCCDE – Pete Lumbis on Twitter Hemmingway App Vale.sh Upbound.io Pete Lumbis Appearances On Packet Pushers Understanding ASICs For Network Engineers With Pete Lumbis – Video – YouTube