Kate sounds off on docs hierarchy of needs and how we talk to ourselves

In this solo episode, Kate shares an update on working with content types, muses about the idea of a Documentation Hierarchy of Needs, and reflects more on Janine Chan’s interview (S3:E4) and how we talk to ourselves about being tech writers.



I may have overcommitted myself in Episode 3. I have been incorporating content type work into my massive content audit, but after working on four of the nineteen Features subcategories, I realized it was taking too much time and I had to refocus on my main task of updating content to match our UI and navigation releases. However, I like the information architecture decisions this has helped me make and the clarity it’s bringing to the docs themselves and how I organize them, so it’s a project I intend to continue.

Making these kinds of priority decisions is something we all have to tackle all the time. But the content type work got me thinking: I’ve used an intuitive content type sense for a long time. I suspect I’m also using an intuitive decision-making framework for prioritizing my docs work. What would an explicit framework for that look like? In talking this over with a colleague, I realized I wanted a Documentation Hierarchy of Needs. I discovered that MongoDB created exactly this for their documentation overhaul once upon a time and wrote this blog post about it. I briefly run through their Hierarchy of Needs and how my decision to temporarily deprioritize content types might fit within it.

I also reflect more on Janine Chan’s episode (S3:E4) and her point about reframing the way we talk to ourselves from “I’m not technical enough” to “I don’t know how to do this… yet.” And I share my own suggestion for handling that narrative problem.

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Creators and Guests

Kate Mueller
Host
Kate Mueller
Kate is a documentarian and knowledge base coach based in Midcoast Maine. When she's not writing software documentation or advising on knowledge management best practices, she's out hiking and foraging with her dog. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Bluesky, or Write the Docs Slack.
Chad Timblin
Producer
Chad Timblin
Chad is the Head of Operations for The Not-Boring Tech Writer. He’s also the Executive Assistant to the CEO & Friend of Felines at KnowledgeOwl, the knowledge base software company that sponsors The Not-Boring Tech Writer. Some things that bring him joy are 😼 cats, 🎶 music, 🍄 Nintendo, 📺 Hayao Miyazaki’s films, 🍃 Walt Whitman’s poetry, 🌊 Big Sur, and ☕️ coffee. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Bluesky.
Kate sounds off on docs hierarchy of needs and how we talk to ourselves
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