API The Docs Podcast cover image

API The Docs Podcast

From Inconsistent to Award-winning Docs - Conversation with Naomi Pentrel & Andrew Feierabend

Jul 8, 2024
In this engaging discussion, Naomi Pentrel, a robotics API documentation revamp expert, and Andrew Feierabend, a user experience advocate, dive into their transformative journey. They highlight the importance of structured user interviews, which inform effective documentation improvements. Their collaborative approach fosters daily usability wins and larger-scale automation changes. The conversation even touches on the playful inspiration behind their award-winning portal design, showcasing how creativity plays a vital role in user engagement.
50:38

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Engaging with actual users through structured interviews enabled the team to tailor their documentation to meet diverse user needs effectively.
  • The collaborative approach of the team, emphasizing automation and idea-sharing, significantly improved the quality and usability of the documentation.

Deep dives

Recognition of Achievement

The VM developer portal received significant accolades, winning both the Best Design and the Small and Medium Prize Enterprise Grand Award at the 2023 Puygge Awards. This achievement highlights the dedication and effort put into transforming the portal from a chaotic documentation system into a polished, user-friendly resource. The team, which includes lead technical writer Naomi Pentrell, focused on streamlining the portal's design and content to ensure clarity and organization. The success of the portal serves as a model for how committed teams can effectively improve documentation and user experience.

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