The Power of Thoughtful Documentation

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David Nunez, based in Santa Barbara, CA, US, is currently a Co-Founder and Partner at Abstract Group, bringing experience from previous roles at First Round Capital, Stripe, and Slab.

Just when we Started to Solve Software Docs, AI Blew Everything Up // MLOps Podcast #235 with Dave Nunez, Partner of Abstract Group, co-hosted by Jakub Czakon.

Huge thank you to Zilliz for sponsoring this episode. Zilliz - https://zilliz.com/.

// Abstract

Over the previous decade, the recipe for making excellent software docs mostly converged on a set of core goals: Create high-quality, consistent content. Use different content types depending on the task. Make the docs easy to findFor AI-focused software and products, the entire developer education playbook needs to be rewritten.

// Bio

Dave lives in Santa Barbara, CA, with his wife and four kids. He started his tech career at various startups in Santa Barbara before moving to San Francisco to work at Salesforce. After Salesforce, he spent 2+ years at Uber and 5+ years at Stripe, leading internal and external developer documentation efforts.

In 2021, he co-authored Docs for Developers to help engineers become better writers. He's now a consultant, advisor, and angel investor for fast-growing startups. He typically invests in early-stage startups focusing on developer tools, productivity, and AI. He's a reading nerd, Lakers fan, and golf masochist.

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// Related Links

Website: https://www.abstractgroup.co/

Book: docsfordevelopers.com

About Dave: https://gamma.app/docs/Dave-Nunez-about-me-002doxb23qbblme?mode=dochttps://review.firstround.com/investing-in-internal-documentation-a-brick-by-brick-guide-for-startupshttps://increment.com/documentation/why-investing-in-internal-docs-is-worth-it/

Writing to Learn paper by Peter Elbow: https://peterelbow.com/pdfs/Writing_for_Learning-Not_just_Demonstrating.PDF

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Timestamps:

[00:00] Dave's preferred coffee

[00:13] Introducing this episode's co-host, Kuba

[00:36] Takeaways

[02:55] Please like, share, leave a review, and subscribe to our MLOps channels!

[03:23] Good docs, bad docs, and how to feel them

[06:51] Inviting Dev docs and checks

[10:36] Stripe's writing culture

[12:42] Engineering team writing culture

[14:15] Bottom-up tech writer change

[18:31] Strip docs cult following

[24:40] TriDocs Smart API Injection

[26:42] User research for documentation

[29:51] Design cues

[32:15] Empathy-driven docs creation

[34:28 - 35:35] Zilliz Ad

[35:36] Foundational elements in documentation

[38:23] Minimal infrastructure of information in "Read Me"

[40:18] Measuring documentation with OKRs

[43:58] Improve pages with Analytics

[47:33] Google-branded doc searches

[48:35] Time to First Action

[52:52] Dave's day in and day out and what excites him

[56:01] Exciting internal documentation

[59:55] Wrap up