Everything You Need to Know about Technical Documentation in Software Development

The very name “technical documentation” sounds complex. In reality, technical documentation (TD) is there to make complicated things more understandable. Want your clients to get familiar with your product fast? You need a good technical writer and short technical documentation for software manual. 

The evidence points out the growing demand for document management systems and TD. Research concludes that the market size is projected to grow from $6.23 billion in 2023 to $18.97 billion by 2030.

Yet, having properly designed TD still requires effort and knowledge. Here, we would like to offer you an overview of TD in software development, to ensure your TD makes an impact and creates value for clients. 

Types Of Technical Documentation

Care to know what is technical documentation? And why is it called “technical” in the first place? The mere technical documentation definition is the following — TD is a collection of templates, standards, rules, and notes produced through the product development process. 

Why technical? Namely, because it entails the description of the product's architecture or/and functionality in great detail. In simple terms, TD is a how-to guide for everyone involved in the product’s lifecycle: developers, users, and managers. 

To illustrate, suppose a client buys a new refrigerator. It is a new-generation model with embedded AI and all kinds of sensors. A customer is an old-fashioned individual who merely tries to catch up with an elusive technological process. 

The catch is the following: if the TD for the refrigerator is good, even a user without any proper knowledge of using such an advanced appliance will perfectly get along with it. Naturally, for software development, it is a bit more complex. Yet, the key principle remains the same.  

What is technical software documentation used for?

TD is not only about encapsulating information. It is all about the easy, usable, and helpful representation of data. A sign of a good TD is when it empowers users and does not confuse them.

Besides, there are some other goals for which TD is employed:

• User support. This technical software documentation functions via user guides, online help, release notes, etc.
• Development support. Technical documentation for software includes functional and non-functional elements for product and software development for developers.
• Marketing support. For marketers, TD represents landing pages, explainer videos, and presentations.
• Organization support. TD illustrates information about the company, procedures, workflows, and organization structure.

These general types of TD bring forward many insights and help different shareholders. It all depends on the TD’s audience, and the message TD writers want to convey. 

Who writes and uses TD?

TD's most straightforward answer is written by a technical writer or a subject matter expert. Technical writers are trained to translate complicated product-related language into easy-to-understand content. A subject matter expert is anyone who knows what they are talking about — a developer, a product manager, or a quality assurance expert — and knows what is technical documentation.

The important thing to remember — every developer or engineer who has ever written a single line of code in any given language has at some point references technical documentation of software. What is more striking, even programming languages have TD to make the code-writing process more understandable. 

When you need to write technical documentation, remember there are specific types of TD. Here are at least a dozen ones to name:

• API Documentation
• Case Studies
• White Papers
• Test Schedules
• Project Plans
• User Guides
• SDK Documentation
• Proposals
• RFPs
• Market Requirements Documentation
• Product Manuals
• Repair Manuals

Looking at these types, you can already grasp a general picture. The technical documentation process encapsulates inputs from multiple experts and various departments. It entails people gathering information throughout the product life cycle. Yet, in the end, all TD comes to two key segments — product documentation and process documentation. Further, we would speak about them in detail. 

Product Documentation: What, Who, and How?

In its essence, product documentation is there to describe the product in development and offer important instructions on how to handle the product and perform different tasks with it. For instance, tech specification is a good example of product documentation. What is more, consider manuals. All these documents provide specific and crucial information about the product being developed. 

In general, there are two particular types of product documentation with different subtypes. 

• First, there is system documentation. It describes the system as a whole and speaks about its parts. 
• Second, there is user documentation. It mainly covers various manuals prepared for end-users and system administrators. 

Starting with the first type, it’s worth speaking about the following subtypes: requirements documentation, software architecture documentation, source code documentation, design documentation, QA documentation, and API documentation. 

Requirements Documentation

Requirements show what needs to be done to ensure the right product’s functionality. In such a sense, requirements documentation includes all the relevant information concerning systems’ design. Usually, such subtype of product documentation is written in different forms: business rules, use cases, and user stories are only a few to mention. 

A proper approach toward writing requirements documentation focuses on integrating aspects like success metrics, maintenance, and business purposes of the product. The documentation sets an endgame threshold, which a fully developed product should reach. Think of it as a final destination point you are driving toward. If you get the final destination and everything goes as you planned, the trip was successful. In such a case, a map with a pointed-out destination and the entire route is a requirements documentation. 

Essentially, there are two key aspects to requirements documentation:

1. It should focus on functionality. The document should not be extensive. Instead, it should be concise and straight to the point. It is best to outline the products, features, purpose, behavior, and maintenance. Nobody wants to read a solid wall of text. Instead, the target audience needs succinct and understandable points on aspects of the product's functionality. 
2. It should include a single and consistent template everyone can adhere to. Keeping a consistent document decreases the chance of errors and hiccups in the future. It is best to have a single web page form to keep the document concise, track all the changes, and notify everyone collaborating on the piece. 

What do we have at this point? Requirements technical documentation for software covers various aspects of the product’s functionality. It shows what the product should do when it is fully developed. Requirements documentation should be straightforward. And it is better to use it consistently across the team. 

Software Architecture Documentation

Software architecture documentation, also known as technical specifications, entails all key architectural decisions and steps the leading solution architect takes. Essentially, while requirement documentation illustrates what needs to be built, software architecture documentation explains how the product should be made. 

What does it mean? It means the document should explain how each product component will meet the established requirements and show how each element will contribute. Software architecture documentation focuses on solutions, methods, and strategies. 

A proper software architecture document includes several key sections:

• Background/overview. Brief description of the project’s key objectives.
• Design and architecture principles. Illustration of guiding architecture elements that will help engineer the product. 
• User story description. The connection between business processes and user stories without unnecessary technical details involved. 
• The solution is represented in a diagrammatic way. Representation of diagrams and other graphic materials to help everyone involved get the gist of the design and architecture principles. 
• Solution details. Listing of planned services, components, and modules emphasizes their utmost importance. 
• Key milestones. The portrayal of elements that help organize the work process, including timeline, deadlines for completion, and independent modules of the application developed. 

These elements encapsulate the foundation of software architecture development. Keeping them in mind is important to ensure a smooth product engineering process. To offer several examples of how software architecture documentation looks like, consider the example of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. 

Source Code Documentation

A source code document’s key purpose is to describe and explain how the code works. Notably, some companies avoid this type of documentation. Yet, in many instances, it proved to be important. It helps prevent confusion on various aspects of the code included in the project. Software engineers are the primary audience of the source code technical software documentation. 

Speaking about the components of the documentation, there are the following:

• Type of data.
• HTML generation framework.
• Design patterns.
• Security measures.
• Any other principles.

It is better to have the document composed in short sections. It is crucial to have a brief description and possible examples for each one. Though the source code documentation is specific to software engineers, it still needs to be understandable. Namely, it can smooth the process of code development. 

Design Documentation

Design documentation covers all the bases on the product’s look and feel. Perhaps, it is the most extensive subtype among all other product documentation subtypes. It means that we have many things to cover further.

One can divide design documentation into several stages. The first phase is about research. The stage focuses on:

• User personas. The element entails conducting user interviews, as well as user surveys. It shows the primary characteristics of an actual user with features like behavior and motivation in mind. User personas represent what the end-user looks like and what such a person's way of thinking is. 
• User scenarios. It is a part of design documentation focusing on describing the steps a user takes when accomplishing a particular task. Instead of emphasizing the thought patterns, the user scenarios concentrate on actions. The descriptions can be either visual or narrative-based. They are crucial for illustrating the product's future functionality.
• Scenario maps. The element exists to collect and compile user scenarios into a single document. Essentially, scenario maps illustrate all the possible scenarios available at a particular moment. It helps connect each potential scenario to a specific function and predict how it may play out. 
• User story maps. Compiling such maps depends on the product’s backlog. User story map helps arrange user stories in the manner of future functions. It can be a table or a scheme, each grouped in a certain way to prioritize functions.
• UX style guides. The document includes the entire design pattern for the would-be product. The element focuses on content types, User Interface elements. It shows how such details and rules should be arranged and linked. However, while UI aspects are included, there is no description of the interface. 

As you can see, the research stage is about information collection and anticipation of how it can be used to get the most out of the product’s functions.

The second phase is about prototyping and designing. During the stage, a person compiling documentation often works with different deliverables while updating the documentation with the product owner, UI designers, and the development team. There are several key documents included in the phase:

• Wireframes. The documentation is represented as blueprints. There is a direct connection to UI. In short, wireframes portray how different aspects of the visual part of the product will behave. UXPin is the platform to consider when you want to create a wireframe.  
• User flow schemes. These parts are important to depict a client’s journey through the product's functionality. The key objective of the element is to show how a user might interact with the product itself. 
• Site maps. These are visual schemes illustrating the link between all the product pages. Such a visualization helps see the entire structure of the product developed.  
• Mock-ups. They show what the product will look like. It is considered one of the key stages in product design development. These are often static images depicting the final product design. 
• Prototypes. Those are mock-ups open to interaction. With a prototype, you can click buttons and navigate through different pages to give an overall feel of the product. Various platforms offer pre-designed mock-ups or the ones you can design with a given tool. For instance, Sketch is a great platform for creating prototypes. 
• Usability reports. The documents include short feedback on the overall product’s design and functionality. It is designed during a product testing stage. Importantly, in usability reports, visual rhetoric should prevail. 

Through stages of researching and prototyping, you can have sufficient information to understand what solutions the product should offer and what steps should be upheld. It is hard to underestimate the importance of design documentation. 

Quality Assurance Documentation

When you have a product’s design ready and a working prototype, it is time for testing. It is when quality assurance (QA) documentation enters the stage.

There are several types of QA documentation involved:

• Quality management plan. The document resembles the requirements documentation, except it is linked to testing. The plan presents a particular standard for the product’s quality. Besides, it describes what steps must be taken to achieve such a degree of quality. The document is vital for product managers.
• Test plan. The document focuses on specific elements that should be tested at the moment. It is often one or two pages at most. In general, the document should contain sections like testing methods, timeframes, features to be tested, and the responsibilities of the people who will test them. 
• Test strategy. The document illustrates the software testing approach in general. It is based on testing objectives and is dedicated to showing how such goals will be achieved. The document often includes information on team structure and resources that you need to prioritize during the testing.
• Test specifications. This document describes the specific set of actions testing professionals need to perform to verify the functionality of each product's feature. The specifications are considered as per the test plan. One of the key aspects of the document is to avoid test case repetitions. 
• Test checklists. These documents ensure each particular test is run at a specific time. They show how many tests succeeded and how many failed. The lists help testers to check the product accurately and correctly. 

Having good QA documentation depends on a range of factors. Luckily, there is a range of tools available to ensure every document is intact and offer some unique insights concerning the product’s functionality. This source provides various templates for QA experts. This platform provides useful information on the testing process per se. Finally, this source offers an SDK for software testing particularly. 

API Documentation

The final element in the system documentation segment. Application Programming Interfaces (API) documentation exists to inform developers on effective use and connection to selected APIs. Notably, almost any given software product has its particular APIs.

Technical writers present API documentation in the form of guides and tutorials. Notably, this type of documentation must have several available APIs available. Besides, each API should have specifications illustrated as well. API documentation helps developers save precious time researching available APIs by themselves. 

There are several instruments to use when designing API documentation. For instance, RAML 2 HTML is an available simple-to-use documentation generator with RAML specifications included. Also, there is Swagger, the platform offering free self-documenting services. It is designed to create as well as update an array of APIs. 

With proper API technical software documentation, you save your developers’ precious time and redirect it elsewhere. Essentially, it makes it possible to work on several projects at once. 

SysAdmin Documentation

The documentation represents the user documentation segment. SysAdmin documentation does not provide any information on operating the product or given software. Instead, this document focuses on installation and updates that assist the professional with proper product maintenance. 

Usually, there are two SysAdmin documents used:

1. Functional description. This document explains the different functionalities of the product. After consulting a product’s owner or users, you can get sufficient information to comprise a functional description. 
2. SysAdmin guide. This document shows how a system might behave in different environments and scenarios. Importantly, the focus must include instructions on dealing with potential malfunctions and errors. 

As you can see, SysAdmin documentation was designed to help system administrators compile an easy-to-understand manner in which users can install, update, and use the product. In this type of documentation, it is paramount to be succinct, straight to the point, and less technical as possible. 

End-User Documentation

The final element of Product Documentation. It deals with end-users and explains how the product can help users solve specific issues. Naturally, the document should be presented in the simplest way possible. The end-user documentation can be offered in print, online, or offline forms. 

There are several types of end-user documentation:

• Quick start guide. The document offers basic information and guidelines on the product’s key features and solutions.
• Complete manual. This is an exhaustive and detailed overview and instruction on aspects like installation, usage, and product maintenance. Usually, the manual includes hardware and software requirements and suggests various tips and tricks that can be useful for a user. 
• Troubleshooting guide. The document provides a user with several solutions to potential errors and malfunctions associated with the product. 
• FAQ. The guide compiled with anticipated questions and offered answers to such questions. It cuts the middleman and shows users what they would have looked for otherwise.
• Support portal. Often, represented as online support connecting a user with a customer support representative. 

When compiling end-user documentation, technical writers must be imaginative. Naturally, the users are not all tech-savvy, which means the information on the product must be clear and understandable. 

End-user documentation is the final aspect of product documentation. Further, we should cover process documentation and overview its key constituents. 

Process Documentation: What, Who, and How?

In contrast to product documentation, process documentation focuses on the essential phases required to complete tasks in product development. This documentation emphasizes how the team working on the project should describe the process and not explain what the process is. 

Process documentation often includes plans, schedules, estimates, and roadmaps. Usually, this documentation is written before the start of the project. Besides, process documentation can be altered as the project progresses.

Roadmaps

Roadmaps are used as process documents to ensure the sound development process. Most notably, their goal is to make a direct link between the process and the project's goals. Roadmaps can be created based on prioritizing tasks, timelines, and low- and high-level objectives. 

Essentially, the experts outline three key types of roadmaps:

• Technology roadmap. This is a low-level process document that focuses on various technical specifications and multiple means of technology implementation. Such roadmaps are detailed and offer information on every deliverable. In short, there is an explanation for each particular decision included. 
• Strategic roadmap. This is a high-level process document that includes comprehensive information on the project. Strategic roadmaps focus on vision and long-term goals pursued. Usually, such roadmaps are arranged in different teams.
• Release plan. This is a process document that sets time limits for essential releases. The document focuses on key deadlines without any specific details included. 

Roadmaps help share information quickly and effectively. With roadmaps, teams receive updates, explore new points, and edit the entire product development process. Luckily, a range of options for developing roadmaps is available online. Most of the platforms include free trials, which means you can use them, get familiar, and understand whether you need to purchase a premium plan. 

If you are looking for a place to start, consider ProductPlan, Roadmunk, and Roadmap Planner. Roadmaps are at the heart of process documentation. Yet, some additional process documents can positively impact product development. 

Other Organizational Documentation 

When it comes to additional types of process documentation, there is an array to consider:

• Plans.
• Progress reports.
• Estimates.
• Schedules.
• Metrics.
• Working papers.
• Coding and design standards.

Among the aforementioned documents, it is crucial to discern several key ones. For instance, progress reports help evaluate the success of the product’s development and ensure the development team is on the right track. Besides, working papers record thoughts, ideas, and notes. Developers, engineers, and system administrators offer their vision of the product and process, translating into working papers. Finally, coding and design standards ensure that all aspects of product development are kept consistent. 

Product and process documentation encapsulates the key aspects of the product and the process involved in the product development cycle. At this point, with an array of multiple documents included in both product and process segments, it is easy to get confused. So, to help you avoid confusion, we’d like to provide several tips and tricks on writing helpful TD.

How to Write Technical Documentation: List of the Best Tools

There is a myriad of options in technical documentation software. The key is to find the right tool that will do the job and won’t cost you a fortune. At this point, we’ve searched through many sources and developed a list of the best technical documentation software one can find. 

ProProfs

ProProfs is used by various Fortune 500 companies like Sony, Cisco, and Accenture. Besides, the company delivers services to millions of users monthly. When visiting the platform, one can find above a million content elements offered in more than seventy languages. It is considered one of the leading online training resources with one of the largest libraries of various tests. 

Yet, ProProfs is much more than a training platform. It has a technical documentation tool embedded in its knowledge base. Here, you can find many technical documentation templates that can be extremely useful in practice. ProProfs is a company that helps seamlessly improve productivity, profitability, and efficiency. 
 

Confluence

Confluence is one of the platforms that everyone heard about. As a part of a broader resource of Atlassian, the company manages to support an international group of more than 250,000 customers. Along with Confluence, the firm offers instruments like Trello, Jira, and Bitbucket, which no company can afford to avoid these days. 

Confluence help to collaborate, create, and organize content. It is a team workspace that makes work much more effective. In addition, Confluence is a great technical documentation software. As a flexible platform, Confluence allows a user to create a documentation space and use the pre-established templates to manage technical documentation of software in minutes. Here, you can find out how to do that. 

SimpleMDE

SimpleMDE is a platform using a drop-in JavaScript text for the sake of writing an understandable markdown. The editor allows users to use a familiar toolbar and toolkit to work with a different syntax within a technical document. Upon working with the text, SimpleMDE makes viable suggestions and uses algorithms that help a user find any given mistakes within the technical documentation, which preserves a great deal of time. 

SimpleMDE is the tool used by people who have already worked with syntax in technical documentation. If you don’t have any idea about technical documentation, the platform should not be the first one on your list. However, as soon as you receive enough practical knowledge of working with such documents, SimpleMDE will be something that you need to have in your arsenal. 

KnowledgeOwl

KnowledgeOwl is a unique platform helping make the world a better place by offering outstanding customer service. It is a cloud-based knowledge management software one can find suitable for businesses of all kinds and sizes. KnowledgeOwl can be most useful in HR and customer support departments. The platform offers a range of elements like creation, management, navigation, search, and advanced reporting capabilities in its core functionality package. In general, all these features help effectively organize and manage information.

What is important is that KnowledgeOwl allows users to manage and share information in the form of online manuals, portals, user guides, handbooks, and technical documents. For a reasonable price and with a 30-days free trial, you’ll be able to manage product and technical documentation easily. Interested? You can sign up for a demo here. 

MarkdownPad

MarkdownPad is the instrument technical writers often use. The tool’s key function is about making notetaking easy and seamless. The platform can be easily integrated to create attractive and easy-to-understand HTML documents. A user can turn a plaintext document into an elaborate piece of technical documentation with an interactive toolbar and clickable elements. 

Technical writers vouch for MarkdownPad. Many find various benefits in the instruments. Some of the primary advantages of MarkdownPad for technical documentation are the following: semantic meaning for content, quick writing of rick formatted text, and an easy-to-use navigation system. Equipped with such an instrument, a technical writer within your company will be pleased to use MarkdownPad for the benefit of your company. 

Apiary

Apiary is one of the pioneers in helping companies handle application programming interfaces (APIs). It is a front-end solution used for creating, designing, and governing various APIs in a cloud. To highlight the importance of Apiary, one should offer the following fact - in 2017, the company was acquired by Oracle. As a result, the acquisition created the most comprehensive API Integration Cloud, which offers unique API design and governance capabilities. 

Apiary offers unique features that allow users to share enterprise data vital for creating cloud-based experiences and applications. The company supports OpenAPI industry standards showing a high degree of compliance. In such a context, Oracle and Apiary can help companies handle many challenges, and technical documentation is one of them. One of the biggest advantages of Apiray is about interactive features it offers. Here, you can see how it can help you write technical documentation. 

Document360

Document360 is a Software as a Service (SaaS) knowledge management platform that can be used for software projects and various documentation, including product and technical ones. With the platform's interface, users can design, create, and manage rich documentation for internal and external offerings. One of the key benefits of the tool is its customization capabilities. Respectively, it makes Document360 applicable across all businesses, big and small. 

The instrument’s features allow managing multiple projects and configuring many users simultaneously. Besides, an analytics option shows the precise history of the document used. With Document360, users can keep their knowledge base content relevant and fresh. Here, you can witness the service’s technical documentation archive to see examples of how technical documentation can be handled effectively. 

HelpJuice

HelpJuice is another cloud-based knowledge management solution. The platform makes it extremely easy for users to deliver instant knowledge to customers and employees. Massive volumes of information can be handled and shared in minutes. Using HelpJuice software, even users without ample experience in working with information can handle critical data seamlessly and without breaking a sweat.  

Knowledge base software like HelpJuice can help customers effectively work with different types of documentation, including technical ones. Interestingly, HelpJuice invests massive efforts into self-help integration, to make users more knowledgable and skillful in using documentation. As a result, the knowledge base reduced the need for customer support by up to 60 percent. Here, you can request a free demo. 

Doxygen

Doxygen is considered one of the primary and well-recognized tools for generating multiple documentation formats from various annotated C++ sources. What is more important, the platform supports numerous popular programming languages, including the following: Objective-C, PHP, C#, Java, Python, and IDL. 

Essentially, Doxygen can help users in three key ways. First, one can use the tool to generate text in an online documentation browser in HTML and offline reference manuals. Second, a user can configure Doxygen to extract the entire code structure from the undocumented source files. It can be a game-changer when looking for a quick way in a massive source distribution. Third, the platform can be used to create normal documentation in the form of manuals and websites. 

It is also worth considering that Doxygen was developed under MacOS X and Linux, making it highly portable. Here, you can glimpse Doxygen’s manual to easily navigate within the tool’s infrastructure. 

ClickHelp

ClickHelp is a current and unique online document management tool many software companies use. It is widely regarded across the globe and is considered to be a staple across technical documentation software. ClickHelp is great for creating and publishing user manuals, FAQs, tutorials, and many more documents. As a cloud-based platform, it can be used across different operating systems.

When it comes to the most interesting ClickHelp features, it is important to consider the following: easy import and export from and into HTML, Microsoft Word, and CHM; quick publishing option; role-based permissions; built-in analytics; translation module to work with multilingual documentation. These elements help users work with technical documentation easily and without any stress. Here, you can book a demo for ClickHelp. 

HelpDocs

HelpDocs positions itself as not just another knowledge base product everyone used a million times. In reality, while the platform offers basic knowledge base services, it’s much more than that. HelpDocs is proud of its fast customer support, its independence, and profitability. Since 2016 the company has been working on a reliable and effortless piece of software, one distinguishable from competitors. While the company is relatively young, it has already managed to get customers from Fortune 500. Many people using HelpDocs vouch for its reliability. 

When it comes to working with technical documentation, HelpDocs created the entire developer hub. It is considered a marvel for technical writers. Here, you can access that hub and plunge into the world of technical documentation from HelpDocs perspective. 
 

BitAI

BitAI is an incredibly powerful document collaboration platform. It is an advanced and innovative end-to-end document solutions for teams of all sizes. With BitAi, users can easily manage and track all the given documents in one place. The platform indicates that the landscape of working with documents have changed forever. It is no longer enough to integrate text and images to have wholesome documentation. Much more digital content need to be integrated to make a great piece of technical documentation.

BitAI created an entire ecosystem allowing teams to generate smarter content and collaborate online. The company intends to follow the changing digital landscape and scale its outreach to help as many users as possible. While looking for creating approaches toward customers, BitAI have introduced its YouTube channel with many interesting insights on technical documentation. Here is an example of how one can learn to work with technical documentation under four minutes. 

How to Write Helpful Technical Documentation for Software: Tips and Tricks

Previously, we’ve offered several useful tools and platforms that can help deal with specific types of TD. However, it is important to follow a particular path with particular steps regardless of the instruments. From documentation plan to final editing, there are six essential steps you need to follow:

1. Start with a documentation plan. Before jumping into the technical documentation process, there should be planning involved. This approach helps determine which topics to cover first. Ideally, a documentation plan includes goals, style guides, existing resources, the outline of issues, deadlines, deliverables, management, and tools. 
2. Keep an eye on the structure. The success of TD depends on the logical structure. Along with the design, the focus should be made on the navigational system. The structure must be easy-to-understand for users, teams, and administrators. 
3. Use a content management system. Product development heavily relies on content management. However, as you might have noticed, there is a great deal of content involved. The rule of thumb dictates that the more content you need to manage, the greater are the chances of errors and malfunctions. For instance, Atlassian Confluence, Bit.ai, and GitHub help decrease the number of content-related mistakes. 
4. Make the document available across the teams. It is paramount for every team member and different teams to access their respective TD. With the current use of custom Android and custom iOS app development services, companies can have documents available to everyone involved and whenever they are. Keep in mind — users, developers, and administrators must-have tools to check TD at any given moment. 
5. Leverage documentation visuals. When the document’s draft is ready, you need to include visuals. For instance, illustrations, flowcharts, and screenshots can greatly augment the document’s effectiveness. Technical writers should use visual rhetoric to focus on a specific point or explain a particular technical concept. Visuals help readers and make the content more appealing. 
6. Focus on final editing. One of the last aspects of the technical documentation process is editing. Remember, one round of editing is never enough. You should pair an editor with a subject matter expert to get the best editing. Besides, during the final round of editing, it can be useful to get a third perspective involved to give the document a fresh look. 

These steps and tricks do not exhaust the existing array of tips you can use. However, they can be a good start. 

All in All

Technical documentation of software requires effort, concentration, time, and imagination to write. However, TD plays like a smooth medium between stakeholders if it is written correctly. It ensures the proper product development cycle and gives an accurate vision of how each process step needs to be done.

Good technical writers and subject matter experts can potentially translate highly technical and incomprehensible information into something everyone can use. 

You need to ask yourself whether to invest in a good TD and help users get the most out of your product or keep generic TD and potentially face massive errors and malfunctions. Remember — good technical documentation is crucial for successful web development!