In Technical Writing: How to Write Software Documentation, Jordan Stanchev shares insights from his research on defining what makes software documentation truly high quality. By establishing clear key performance indicators (KPIs), teams can accurately measure and track improvements in any documentation project — this is incredibly valuable guidance.
Quality KPIs include:
- Helpful
- Comprehensive
- Searchable
- Visual
- Usable
- Readable
- Reliable
- Grammatically correct
- Translatable and localization-friendly
- Accessible
- Uses appropriate tone
Importantly, scores for these KPIs should come from user research and analysis — not just the author’s personal judgment.
Best regards.