The data is in: High-quality documentation matters. When I recently attended the Write the Docs conference in Portland, and TechDocsCon at the Open Source Summit in Seattle, two presentations made this point abundantly clear.
At both conferences, I saw a fantastic presentation by Michelle Irvine, a technical writer with Google Cloud. Michelle has been working with their DORA team to conduct rigorous, statistically valid research on the business impact of high-quality technical documentation.
Unsurprisingly, the data shows that high-quality documentation is fundamental to every aspect of IT. The lead documentation finding on page 1 of their research report puts it this way:
Documentation is like sunshine: its presence amplifies technical capabilities. This means that quality documentation not only helps establish technical capabilities, but helps them matter. High-quality documentation leads to 25% higher team performance.
Other points in Michelle’s talk highlighted the organizational impact of high-quality documentation, and included the following:
Teams with quality documentation are:
- 3.8 x more likely to implement security practices
- 2.4 x more likely to meet or exceed their reliability targets
- 2.5 x more likely to fully utilize the cloud
- 3.5 x more likely to implement Site Reliability Engineering practices
Later in her presentation, Michelle highlighted the impact of high-quality documentation on how an organization’s continuous integration (CI) efforts impact revenue and customer satisfaction:
High-quality documentation leads to CI having a 750% impact on revenue and customer satisfaction, as opposed to low-quality documentation where CI leads to a 34% impact.
To me, this data suggests that documentation costs shouldn’t be thought of as an expense, but rather as a strategic investment made to enable higher returns, improve customer satisfaction, and build value for all stakeholders (customers, partners, shareholders, and employees).
Technical writers have long claimed that their work is deserving of bigger budgets and higher priority. Now, there’s reliable data to back up those claims. So, the data is in. High-quality documentation does matter.
That’s big news for technical writers everywhere.
If you or your manager is struggling to make the case for increased budgets, more resources, and higher prioritization of technical documentation work, watch Michelle’s presentation. Then download the report, print it, read it, and hand it to those who need to know. As long as you’re making the case, be sure to read and use our Tangible Benefits of Technical Communication Excellence white paper too.
As always, contact us with questions or to explore how we can help your organization realize the benefits of high-quality technical communication.