The Top 8 Reusable Components to Document a Library — Every time, we use our library’s toolkit to build web-based doc of the library. A bit meta, for sure. The documentation is just another product made and maintained with the kit, only made by the team that made the kit itself. Building an experience, even doc, sensitizes that team to…

Serve a System’s Audiences with Well-Architected Content — #1 of 7 of the series Documenting Components: Overview | Intros | Examples | Design | Code | Authoring | Myths High-quality component documentation is a hallmark of an effective library. We describe each UI component robustly, aiming to drive effective design decisions and speed development. Good doc isn’t free…

Pithy Names and Descriptions That Go a Long Way — #2 of 7 of the series Documenting Components: Overview | Intros | Examples | Design | Code | Authoring | Myths Component Names: “My name is…” Naming a thing well is essential, and sometimes hard. A component’s name (Buttons) appears as the page’s title, a label in site’s navigation (Buttons), and a code identifier of…

Showcase your component’s quality, depth and versatility — #3 of 7 of the Documenting Components series: Overview | Intros | Examples | Design | Code | Authoring | Myths Visual examples are the most essential element of effective component doc. How do you best render, arrange, label, and order each one to with effective content (but not embedded…

Write the Words and Add the Pictures to Empower Designers — #4 of 7 of the Documenting Components series: Overview | Intros | Examples | Design | Code | Authoring | Myths I remember that morning. September 2014. McLean, Virginia. I arrive for work around 7:30am. I open Google’s Material Design guidelines for the first time. I remember exactly where I…

Model the Content, People, and Steps Involved — #6 of 7 of the series Documenting Components: Overview | Intros | Examples | Design | Code | Authoring | Myths Over the years, I’ve refined how to approach authoring documentation. From models and templates used to what people are involved when to get the work done. …

How to Pivot Misguided Perceptions Towards Reality — #7 of 7 of the series Documenting Components: Overview | Intros | Examples | Design | Code | Authoring | Myths I repeatedly debunk myths about making component documentation. It’s a challenge to encounter them over and over as I setup each system. Yet, I’ll take these opportunities to get…