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Olivier CarrèreTechnical writing practice

Build a documentation process

Planning, authoring, review, governance, and maintenance — an explicit, repeatable process for producing technical documentation.

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An industrial approach to technical writing, in the order the work actually happens: define the project, gather information, test the product, write, validate, translate, and deliver.

Process overviewThe full production chain in one diagram, with the methodology track and the production-line track side by side.
Project definitionScope the documentation project before writing a single word.
Gathering informationWhere accurate content actually comes from, and how to get it out of subject-matter experts.
Testing products to document themWhy hands-on testing catches what interviews and specs miss.
Content creationTurning gathered information into structured, usable content.
Validation and quality controlReview passes that catch errors before publication, not after.
TranslationPlanning for translation instead of bolting it on afterward.
DeliveryGetting finished documentation to the people who need it, in the format they need it in.
Managing a project from start to finishOne project traced from intake through delivery.

Need the tooling and version-control side of this process? See adopting docs-as-code. How this discipline differs from Technical communicationThe broader discipline that spans the entire product life cycle and reaches general audiences, prospects, and journalists — as distinct from technical writing, which produces user-facing product documentation after a sale.View in glossary →? See understanding documentation. Looking for a ready-to-run checklist for one of these stages? See the toolkit.