Imagine if every time your team faced a bug or needed guidance on a feature, the solution was just a click away—clear, concise, and exactly what you needed. No endless Slack threads, no back-and-forth emails, just clear-cut solutions.
That’s the promise of well-crafted software documentation. When done right, it serves as a lifeline for teams, reducing friction and boosting productivity. Despite its apparent benefits, documentation is often overlooked in many team environments. Gaps or outdated information then lead to costly delays and frustration.
This guide explores nine best practices for transforming software documentation into an invaluable resource, complete with real-life examples to illustrate each point. It’s time to dive into strategies that simplify, clarify, and ensure your docs meet team needs.
Types of software documentation
Software documentation is the foundation for team alignment, end-user support, and seamless product evolution. If executed properly, it provides a structured record of processes, functionalities, and solutions that help engineers, users, and stakeholders understand a product from every angle.
Well-organized documentation reduces errors, simplifies onboarding, and empowers teams to deliver higher-quality code faster. Below are critical types of software documentation, each serving a unique purpose within development and beyond.
Product requirements documentation
Product requirements documentation is the blueprint for a software product, defining key specifications and features that the software must fulfill. This type of product documentation clarifies development goals, desired outcomes, and limitations.
For developers, it acts as a foundational guide that aligns the entire team on what they need to do, why it’s needed, and how each feature contributes to the product’s purpose. Clear product requirements documentation ensures that development stays on track and aligns with end-user needs and company objectives.
API documentation
API documentation is essential for integrating with or extending software and focuses solely on how developers can interact with a software application:
Endpoints
Request/response structures
Authentication methods
Error codes
It enables third-party developers or other internal teams to use, connect to, and enhance the product through API calls, certifying that APIs are easy to understand, use, and maintain.
Technical documentation
Technical documentation includes the detailed information necessary to develop, deploy, and maintain software. Good documentation, crafted by technical writers, covers high-level architecture and low-level processes such as configurations, troubleshooting steps, and setup guides.
Technical documentation is essential for engineers and technical teams working on backend systems to guarantee continuity, simplify maintenance, and speed up problem-solving.
User documentation
User documentation is for end-users, and it focuses on creating a seamless user experience. It typically includes user guides, user manuals, and step-by-step instructions to help users understand and use the software effectively. Comprehensive user documentation allows users to solve common problems, learn new features, and maximize the software’s value without direct support.
Developer onboarding documentation
Developer onboarding documentation helps new team members quickly get up to speed with a project. It provides an overview of the codebase that the development team stays consistent and efficient, including:
Company policies
Tools in use
Key development practices
This documentation smoothes project entry and establishes a standardized knowledge foundation across team members.
Testing documentation
Testing documentation, a crucial form of project documentation, outlines the tests conducted, testing environments, and results. This includes details of test cases, testing procedures, and bug-tracking reports, providing developers with the insights they need to understand testing outcomes and improve code quality. Testing documentation keeps software reliable, secure, and performant.
Release notes
Release notes are summaries for users detailing new features, updates, fixes, and known issues in the latest software release.
To make your release notes more interactive and accessible, consider using a software documentation tool like Loom’s screen recorder. Loom is a free online screen recorder that allows users to record and share videos of their screen, camera, or both. Using Loom, developers can visually walk users through significant updates. Teams can increase user engagement, understanding, and buy-in by showing rather than simply telling.
Code documentation
Code documentation refers to annotations and comments within the source code that clarify its structure, logic, and purpose. Good code documentation provides context to the codebase, detailing the “why” behind specific design choices and outlining complex logic. By embedding clear comments and summaries, developers ensure that anyone diving into the source code can understand and build upon it without deciphering unfamiliar patterns.
Best practices for software documentation
Clear, effective software documentation enhances user experience, reduces support load, and streamlines development processes. Below are some best practices to elevate your documentation quality, with an illustrative example for each.
1. Know your target audience
Tailoring documentation to the audience’s level of technical understanding ensures it’s relevant and accessible. For example, end-users often benefit from simplified explanations and step-by-step instructions, while developers might need technical specs and code samples.
Atlassian, for instance, provides distinct documentation for developers and enterprise documentation so that each audience can directly access the most relevant guidance.
Using Loom, developers can record videos for a specific audience—perhaps different teams within their organization—with a different level of detail and various features highlighted. For example, developers could record a video for marketers about new features to highlight in an upcoming customer newsletter. A separate video could be made for the customer success team with updates on particular bug fixes that a customer eagerly awaits.
2. Keep it user-friendly
Organize content with clear headings, a table of contents, and an intuitive structure. This reduces frustration and makes information easy to navigate. Loom can enhance user-friendly documentation by allowing you to record your screen while walking viewers through complex software functionalities. Viewers can interact with the video by leaving emoji reactions and asking questions. When you record a Loom video, viewers have a resource they can refer to again and again whenever they need a refresher.
Learn how to create screen recordings with Loom to clarify your software documentation for all viewers.
3. Use version control
Tracking changes through version control tools like GitHub is essential in fast-paced, agile development environments. This practice ensures that you document the latest updates and keep them accessible. Loom’s integration with GitHub allows developers to record feedback cycles, providing more precise context on changes and streamlining code reviews.
4. Incorporate visuals
Screenshots, videos, and diagrams help users understand complex processes more quickly than text alone. For example, including a short video tutorial for common setups or workflows helps readers follow along effortlessly.
Developers can use Loom to integrate video demonstrations directly into their documentation, making it easier for users to understand technical tasks.
5. Adopt a documentation style guide
Style guides promote consistency across all documentation, ensuring uniform tone, terminology, and structure. Companies using platforms like Confluence or Microsoft Learn often implement these guides to streamline documentation across teams.
For example, the Google developer documentation style guide outlines the voice and tone, formatting, word list, and product names used in all Google technical documentation. Having a single source of truth ensures all Google developers write their documentation cohesively.
For collaboration software tips, see this guide on the best collaboration software.
6. Update regularly
Frequent updates align documentation with the latest software functionality, preventing outdated information from confusing users. Set regular review cycles to confirm accuracy and relevance, especially in agile environments with continuous releases.
In the example below, Figma makes it clear that it keeps its documentation up to date with a blade along the top of the Figma Learn page featuring prominent information on what’s new in the platform.
One way to quickly update documentation is by adding a quick Loom addendum to an existing documentation page. If there’s something new that users need to know about, pin a Loom video to the top of the page with a call-out that this is an update as of a particular date.
7. Encourage collaborative documentation
Collaborative tools, like shared documents and remote pair programming, make it easy for team members to contribute their expertise in real time. This approach helps catch errors early and ensures documentation quality.
Loom helps with remote pair programming by allowing developers to collaborate on code, even when they’re not in the same physical space or time zone. Developers can record their screens with Loom, capture their code, and add necessary information without losing track in long email threads.
8. Provide troubleshooting and FAQs
A dedicated section for FAQs and troubleshooting guides enables users to solve minor issues independently, reducing the support team’s workload. This approach is beneficial in user documentation, as users can find answers quickly without additional support requests.
FAQs can be useful for developers, too, especially when it comes to APIs. The example below illustrates how Slack handles documentation on its complex integrations with a robust FAQ page.
Alternatively, you could use Loom to record a single FAQ video or a series of FAQ videos, walking users through answers to their common questions. This works particularly well if the answer to a frequent question involves going into your platform and performing a specific action—it’s much easier to show than tell.
9. Use documentation templates
Templates streamline the creation of how-to guides, roadmaps, and architecture overviews, ensuring all documentation aligns with the organization’s style and content standards. They make it easy to onboard new contributors and maintain consistency across different types of documentation.
For instance, Atlassian’s software and IT templates take the guesswork out of where to start with software documentation.
Elevate your documentation game with Loom
Creating clear, engaging, and reliable documentation doesn’t have to be a daunting task.
With Loom, engineering teams can streamline and enhance their documentation process, integrating video guides and screen recordings that clarify complex concepts and keep users informed.
Whether it’s for onboarding and troubleshooting or detailed feature walk-throughs, Loom’s tools transform software documentation into an interactive, accessible resource that supports both users and developers.
Elevate your software documentation with Loom. Start creating engaging, clear video guides today.
