My Personal Insights from GitBook’s 2025 State of Docs Report
State of the Docs — Table of Contents I finally checked off an item that had been on my list for far too long: reading the 2025 edition of GitBook’s State of Docs Report, which highlights trends in technical documentation and offers insight into how organizations think about documentation today. My first conclusion is simple: our profession needs more reports like this. Data-driven analysis is essential for helping technical writers advocate for resources, articulate value, and influence product strategy. The report is organized into five major categories, summarized in the table below: Category Description Purchase decisions and business impact How documentation affects buying decisions, adoption, and customer satisfaction Documentation team structures How organizations resource and organize their documentation teams Documentation tooling and API docs How teams create and maintain API documentation Documentation metrics and measurement How organizations measure and demonstrate documentation value AI and the future of documentation How emerging technologies are shaping authoring and content delivery The two categories that stood out most to me were Documentation metrics and measurement and AI and the future of documentation. As an industry, we have debated for years how to measure documentation value, and this report advances that conversation. The rapid growth of large language models continues to reshape how knowledge workers function, including those in technical writing. Many outside the profession assume writing can be automated. That has not been my experience. LLMs can assist with certain tasks, but they cannot replace the depth, contextual awareness, or judgment that technical writing requires. My goal with this analysis is to help busy writers who may not make time to read the full report. I reviewed each section, selected my top three insights, and added commentary to encourage informed discussion across the technical writing community. Summary of the Report Full report available here: 2025 edition of GitBook’s State of Docs Report Before diving into my analysis, it is important to ground the discussion in the data behind the report. GitBook provides clear information about who participated, what questions were asked, and how responses were distributed across roles, regions, and company sizes. Below is a summary of the 2025 State of Docs Report. All data points come directly from the official site. Key Facts from State of the Docs 2025 444 respondents representing multiple disciplines and roles 46 questions covering topics such as team structure, workflows, metrics, and AI Responses from technical writers, engineers, product managers, designers, marketers, and developer advocates Report includes interviews with writers and stakeholders whose quotes appear throughout Top respondent roles: technical communication (33.1 percent), leadership (22.3 percent), engineering (18.3 percent), developer relations (5.6 percent) Company size distribution from the report’s chart: 50 percent from companies with 0 to 50 employees, 22.1 percent from companies with 51 to 300 employees, 27.9 percent from companies with 301 or more employees Primary regions: Northern Europe and the Middle East (39.4%) and North America (35.4%) Respondents represent a broad set of professionals who produce, maintain, or rely on documentation. Future editions would benefit from greater representation from product managers, who help shape documentation priorities. This range of respondents reflects the diversity of professionals who create, maintain, and rely on documentation. In future editions, it would be valuable to see more participation from product managers, who often play a key role in setting documentation priorities and aligning them with product strategy. 1. Purchase Decisions and Business Impact This section highlights the connection between documentation and revenue. Documentation is often treated as a support function, but the data shows that it plays a front-line role in adoption and conversion. “90% of professionals say documentation is important when deciding to buy a product or service.” This finding confirms that documentation influences product evaluation. For new or lesser-known products, documentation may be the most reliable information available, especially when search engines and LLMs lack indexed data. Good documentation enables prospects to self-serve. They can evaluate capabilities, verify assumptions, and explore integrations without opening support tickets. Documentation reduces friction during evaluation and accelerates adoption. “Only 35% believe their own documentation influences conversions, revealing a major opportunity gap.” This perception gap demonstrates that organizations undervalue the business impact of documentation. If ninety percent of people rely on documentation when making buying decisions, but only a third believe their docs influence conversions, then teams are missing critical opportunities. In my consulting work, I saw this firsthand. One client noticed strong correlations between documentation engagement and increased sales. Prospects revisited the documentation several times before purchasing. That insight led leadership to invest more heavily in documentation improvements. This gap is not caused by lack of value. It is caused by lack of measurement. “Many companies fail to use documentation strategically, missing opportunities to connect it to lead generation, retention, and revenue.” Documentation portals attract high-intent visitors who want to understand the product. They are evaluating features, inspecting APIs, scoping integrations, or preparing for onboarding. When documentation includes calls to action such as free trials, newsletters, or demo requests, technical writing leaders can collaborate with product and marketing teams to create KPIs such as: Leads generated from documentation pages Trial signups attributed to docs traffic Conversion rates from documentation sessions 2. Documentation Team Structure This section examines how documentation teams scale, where they encounter bottlenecks, and how organizational structure influences content quality. “As organizations grow, documentation debt develops when engineering outpaces writing capacity.” Most companies employ far more engineers than writers. Ratios like 1 writer to 40 or 50 engineers are not uncommon. As engineering grows, documentation work grows with it. If writing capacity does not keep pace, documentation debt accumulates. This includes outdated content, missing updates, and backlogs of documentation-related support tickets. Documentation debt becomes difficult to resolve because writers must prioritize upcoming releases over revisiting older or incomplete content. A practical solution is to equip documentation leaders with adaptable communication patterns they can apply in different organizational contexts. These patterns may include highlighting the impact of outdated content on support tickets, onboarding friction, customer confusion, or delays in publishing
Insights and Takeaways from Write the Docs Bay Area: How Today’s Technical Writers Get Things Done
On October 23, 2025, Write the Docs Bay Area hosted an in-person meetup at WRITER HQ, sponsored by WRITER and organized by Words n Logic. The theme, How Do Today’s Technical Writers Get Things Done?, inspired an evening filled with practical insights, personal stories, and cross-functional discussions that connected documentation, AI, and teamwork. Each speaker explored a different aspect of “getting things done,” from using metrics to understand readers and measure documentation impact to applying AI as a creative partner and building scalable systems for collaboration. Together, their talks painted a picture of how documentation teams are evolving in the modern era. Today’s technical writers are not just producing content; they are building systems that connect people, processes, and information across entire organizations. This was my third in-person meetup of 2025, following Smarter Documentation: AI, Tools, and Modern Workflows. Like the earlier events, this session brought together professionals from technical writing, developer relations, and product management who shared how documentation influences user experience and product success. My long-term goal is to create TEDx-style events for technical writers, providing spaces where practitioners can collaborate, exchange ideas, and push the boundaries of what technical communication can be within enterprise technology. Below are a few photos and highlights from the October 23 event that capture the spirit of the evening. Write the Docs Bay Area event at WRITER HQ on October 23, 2025. WRITER swag displayed at the Write the Docs Bay Area event on October 23, 2025. Group photo of the speakers. From left to right: Frances Liu, Sarah Deaton, Adam Martin, and Renée Carignan. The theme of the event was “How Do Today’s Technical Writers Get Things Done?” In hindsight, I should have chosen a more engaging title, as I believe the generic name didn’t attract as much interest. Consider that a lesson learned for other organizers planning their own tech meetups.???? Each speaker explored the idea of “getting things done” from a unique perspective: Renée Carignan (Lead Technical Writer at Gem) demonstrated how metrics reveal the truth behind user engagement. Adam Michael Wood (Developer Relations at Martian) explained how AI can serve as a partner rather than a replacement for writers. Sarah Deaton (WRITER) shared how context engineering enables effective collaboration between humans and AI. Frances Liu (Co-founder of Promptless) closed the evening by outlining systems and habits that help unblock collaboration between technical writers, product managers, and subject-matter experts. The complete slide deck with extra speaker content is embedded below for you to explore. Here’s a brief summary of each talk along with thoughts of my top three findings. Speaker 1 – Renee Carignan Talk: Find the Frequency: Metrics for Better Docs and Happier Readers Role: Lead Technical Writer @ Gem | Ex-Heap, Ex-Pendo Renée Carrigan speaking at the Write the Docs Bay Area event on October 23, 2025. Summary of Renée’s Talk Renée Carrigan speaking at the Write the Docs Bay Area event on October 23, 2025. Renée Carignan’s session focused on how data-driven insights can transform documentation from guesswork into an evidence-based practice. She explained that tracking metrics isn’t about vanity numbers, but that it’s about understanding user behavior and improving the reader experience. Beginning with entry-point data (like Google Search Console and AI-bot queries), she explained how to analyze pageviews, heatmaps, clicks, search terms, and feedback surveys to identify where users struggle or disengage. Her central message: use the tools you already have, start small, and prioritize metrics that directly drive improvements to content and usability. Renée encouraged writers to “learn to love data” by setting a regular cadence for reviewing metrics, auditing their relevance, and always digging into the “why” behind user actions. Top 3 Highlights 1. Homepage Heatmaps for UX Insights Renée emphasized using heatmaps to visualize how users interact with the documentation homepage. By identifying which sections attract clicks and how far users scroll, writers can detect friction points and eliminate unnecessary elements. Example: Her team discovered most users stopped at category cards and removed everything below, improving navigation clarity. This is a low-effort, high-impact method that can be done with free trials of heatmap tools and immediately improves user experience. 2. Search Data Analysis to Uncover User Intent Analyzing internal search terms helps reveal what users are actually seeking in your docs and what they can’t find. Renée recommended tracking: Most common search terms over time to identify trending needs. Searches with no results, which often expose missing topics or confusing phrasing. Although 80 % may be noise, the remaining 20 % provide actionable insight. This is a practical, ongoing feedback loop for documentation improvement and content planning. 3. Feedback Surveys with Required Contact Info Renée’s team at Heap improved feedback quality by requiring an email field in their doc-feedback form. This allowed them to follow up directly with users, connect them to support, and identify recurring pain points. By combining quantitative ratings with qualitative comments, teams can map satisfaction to specific articles and prioritize updates. It’s a lightweight but powerful way to close the loop between documentation and user success. Speaker 2 – Adam Michael Wood Talk: Pros and Cons of GenAI for Docs Role: Tech Writer / Developer & Research Relations @ Martian | Ex-Google, O’Reilly, Facebook, Intel Adam Martin speaking at the Write the Docs Bay Area event on October 23, 2025. Summary of Adam Michael Wood’s talk Adam frames GenAI not as a push-button “agent” that replaces writers, but as a practical writing partner that boosts speed, reduces errors, and enforces planning when you set up good inputs and strong guardrails. He acknowledges real drawbacks (odd tone, verbosity, hallucinations in prose/code), then shows how to mitigate them with a prep->write->verify workflow: establish style and examples up front, structure prompts and scaffolds during drafting, and finish with testing/linting. The goal isn’t “set it and forget it,” but faster, cleaner docs with fewer lookups and mistakes, grounded in your team’s existing house style and codebase. Top 3 Highlights Treat LLMs as partners, not agents Don’t expect end-to-end automation; use
Host Checklist for Conference-Style Technical Meetups
This post comes from my personal notes on organizing conference-style technical meetups. My goal is to help other organizers—and myself—be as prepared as possible when planning future in-person events. Organizing a conference-style meetup requires managing countless small details, from coordinating logistics to communicating with sponsors. As a technical writer and tech enthusiast based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve attended and hosted many meetups, and I’ve learned that preparation makes all the difference. This guide is designed to help current and future organizers plan smooth, well-run, in-person technical meetups featuring multiple speakers presenting on related topics. Below is a checklist of key questions to ask sponsors and venue partners before your next event. 1. Will food and beverages be provided? Food and drinks are standard for most in-person meetups. The go-to choice is usually pizza and canned beverages like LaCroix or soda—it’s economical, easy to order, and adds a casual, social vibe. You can order the day of the event through services like DoorDash or Uber Eats. As a general rule, one large pizza feeds three to four people. Check your RSVP list a day or two before the event to estimate how much food you’ll need. 2. Will the event be hosted at the sponsor’s office or another venue? It’s important to clarify early whether the sponsor is hosting the event in their own office or covering the cost of an external venue. This determines who your main point of contact will be for follow-up questions like: If the sponsor is a mid- to large-sized company with resources, it’s reasonable to ask for logistical support. If it’s a smaller company financing a rental venue, direct your venue-specific questions to the workplace or facilities manager of that space. You should also confirm: 3. What equipment will be provided? If your sponsor or venue has a workplace manager or facilities coordinator, here are the key questions to ask: If the event takes place at a coworking space or independent venue, confirm these details directly with the site manager. 4. Will a representative from the sponsor make an announcement? It’s good business etiquette to give a representative from the sponsoring company an opportunity to speak briefly about their organization. I usually schedule this right after attendees have grabbed food and had time to socialize, and just before the talks begin. It’s also helpful to know in advance who will be making the announcement so I can introduce them properly at the appropriate time. 5. How can we add more value for attendees and sponsors? Great speakers are always a plus. Food is a nice perk. But the real magic happens when attendees and sponsors feel engaged and inspired. Consider adding interactive or value-driven elements such as: These touches elevate the experience, create lasting impressions, and help strengthen relationships with both your audience and sponsors. Final Thoughts Running a conference-style technical meetup is a rewarding experience that builds community and fosters professional growth. With preparation, clear communication, and attention to detail, you can create an event that feels both professional and welcoming—one that attendees and sponsors will look forward to attending again.
Speaker Preparation Guide for Conference-Style Meetups
If you’ve ever spoken at a local meetup, you know the mix of excitement and mild panic that comes with it. Will your slides work? Will you go over time? Will anyone laugh at your icebreaker? Over the years, I’ve found that the most engaging events are those that follow a conference-style format—featuring multiple speakers, usually up to four. This setup gives more technical writers a chance to share their expertise while offering the audience a wider variety of topics and perspectives. But coordinating several speakers at once takes planning. Below is a guide I’ve refined through hands-on experience to make each event run smoothly from start to finish. Speaker Guide for Success 1. Avoid Live Demos Resist the temptation to open live software or code during your presentation. Things will go wrong—Wi-Fi drops, screens freeze, or windows pop up in the wrong place. Instead, record a screencast in advance and embed it in your slide deck. You’ll stay on time, minimize stress, and keep the audience focused on your story, not your mouse. 2. Upload Your Slides to the Shared Deck All presentations are managed through a Google Drive master deck. Add your slides to your assigned section so everything can be merged into one seamless file. This makes transitions between speakers effortless. 3. Test in Presentation Mode Before uploading, run your slides in full presentation mode. If you built your deck in PowerPoint, note that some effects don’t render the same way in Google Slides—especially 3D transitions, custom fonts, and complex animations. Testing early avoids last-minute surprises during your talk. 4. Rehearse Your Timing and Flow Practice out loud. A 15-minute slot disappears faster than you think. Rehearsing helps you fine-tune your pacing, identify awkward transitions, and ensure your story lands naturally within the time limit.If possible, run through your slides once standing up—it changes your energy and delivery. 5. Use the Provided Clicker You’ll receive a wireless clicker so you can move around freely and control your slides at your own pace.If you’re unfamiliar with it, ask for a quick demo before the session starts—muscle memory helps when you’re live. 6. Dress to Impress We’ll be taking photos and recording video throughout the event, so dress as you would for a conference or professional presentation. You don’t have to go formal—just clean, confident, and camera-ready. 7. Check Your Laptop Ports If your laptop doesn’t have a USB-C port, please notify the organizer in advance so the right adapters can be provided. 8. Enjoy Yourself If you’ve followed these steps, you’ve done the hard part. Take a breath, smile, and engage with your audience. Energy is contagious—and your excitement helps set the tone for the entire Final Thoughts Conference-style meetups give our community more opportunities to learn, connect, and grow. Whether you’re a first-time presenter or a returning speaker, your preparation helps create an event that’s both professional and enjoyable. So review the checklist, polish your slides, and bring your enthusiasm—I’ll handle the rest behind the scenes.
Write the Docs Bay Area — Smarter Documentation: AI, Tools, and Modern Workflows
I recently organized my second in-person meetup for Write the Docs Bay Area and wanted to share a more in-depth recap here — not just a short LinkedIn post like I usually do. As a technical writer, I got involved with Write the Docs Bay Area to reignite the community of technical writing professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since the pandemic, many local meetups have recovered, but Write the Docs Bay Area never fully restarted. At the beginning of 2025, I decided to volunteer and help bring it back. It’s been a rewarding journey — I’ve learned so much about building inclusive communities, event logistics, and connecting people around shared interests. Partnering with Promptless to Make the Event Possible Hosting in-person events in San Francisco isn’t cheap. If you’re planning a gathering with a room full of attendees, it’s worth finding sponsors to help cover venue costs, food, and other expenses like giveaways to encourage attendance. I was fortunate to partner with Promptless, a Y Combinator–backed startup building AI tools specifically for technical writers. Promptless integrates directly with everyday tools — from GitHub and Linear to docs generators and hosting platforms — to automatically propose doc updates as engineers open PRs or support teams resolve issues. They’re also offering a two-month trial for Write the Docs members who book a demo in October: https://promptless.ai/wtd Growing Momentum: 60+ Attendees and a Full House While I didn’t have a volunteer handling check-ins, we had 72 RSVPs and around 60 attendees at peak. The venue can fit 90 comfortably, and at one point nearly every seat was filled — a strong sign that the Bay Area’s technical writing community is eager to reconnect. It’s great to see so many writers, editors, and documentation leaders showing up to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and support one another as we all navigate how AI and new tools are changing our work. Three Takeaways From Every Talk We were happy to have four speakers share their insights and experiences with the community: Their talks explored how AI, automation, and structured workflows are redefining the role of documentation teams. The speakers also uploaded their presentations, available here: View slides on Google Drive. Manny Silva: Self-Healing Docs — How Agents Are Redefining the Docs Pipeline Manny Silva’s talk explored how self-healing documentation systems are already transforming how teams maintain API docs and developer portals. He walked through the shift from traditional CMS pipelines to Docs-as-Code, and now toward intelligent, agent-driven pipelines that can detect and fix issues automatically. 1. From Manual Maintenance to Autonomous Healing Manny reframed documentation upkeep as a continuous, automated process rather than a manual task. He showed how agentic AI systems can now detect, diagnose, and repair issues in real time — catching broken links, outdated examples, or API reference errors before users even notice. This “self-healing” cycle (detect → diagnose → repair → verify → report) moves teams from reactive maintenance to proactive reliability. 2. Bridging Docs-as-Code with Intelligent Automation He then traced the evolution from monolithic CMS platforms (like Adobe Experience Manager and SharePoint) to Git-based Docs-as-Code pipelines, which integrate authoring tools, CI/CD, and static site generators. The next frontier, Manny argued, is AI-driven integration — where autonomous agents monitor source content and APIs, proposing updates automatically to keep documentation synchronized with live systems. 3. Redefining the Writer’s Role in the AI-Powered Pipeline As these tools take over repetitive tasks, writers gain time to focus on higher-value work: designing better information architectures, improving developer experience, and shaping how content supports adoption. Manny emphasized that self-healing systems don’t replace writers — they amplify their impact, making documentation ecosystems more resilient and adaptive. Justina Nguyen: Using AI to Keep Documentation Fresh, Consistent, and Interactive The second talk came from Justina Nguyen, Head of Marketing at ReadMe, who discussed how her team uses AI to keep docs fresh, consistent, and interactive. She explored how AI linters, automation, and structured authoring enable teams to maintain alignment between documentation, product, and community — even as features evolve rapidly. 1. Documentation Is the Product Justina opened by reminding us that documentation defines how users experience your product. This framing elevates docs from support artifacts to strategic assets that drive adoption and trust. 2. The AI Linter as a Quality Partner To address challenges like outdated content or tone inconsistency, Justina introduced ReadMe’s AI-powered linter. Instead of replacing writers, the linter acts as a co-pilot that flags style issues, formatting errors, and missing context — ensuring brand consistency at scale. This “write first, polish with AI” model allows writers to prioritize clarity while automation handles cleanup and alignment. 3. Collaboration as the Heart of Scalable Docs Justina emphasized that documentation must evolve alongside product development. When teams treat docs as a shared responsibility, AI tools can streamline reviews, accelerate updates, and ensure accuracy across departments. The result is a living knowledge base that reflects real-time product behavior and fosters community trust. Sakshi Shah: When Docs Become Dialogue — AI-Powered Documentation Assistance Sakshi Shah, a Technical Writer with a background in Human-Computer Interaction, presented “When Docs Become Dialogue”, exploring how documentation now serves both human readers and AI systems. She showed how structured content and metadata improve chatbot accuracy and how writers can help AI deliver better answers. 1. Writers Now Create for Humans and Machines Sakshi reminded us: “We don’t just write for people — we write for machines.” AI assistants increasingly pull responses directly from docs, so writers must ensure content is modular, consistent, and self-contained. By designing content that AI can parse accurately, writers act as AI enablers, reducing hallucinations and mismatched answers. 2. Structuring Docs Like a Training Dataset Sakshi’s research methodology involved: My interpretation: Her approach treats documentation like a training dataset — one that must be structured, tagged, and tested to improve AI accuracy and reliability. 3. Collaboration Between Writers and Engineers Drives Better AI Improving AI assistance, Sakshi explained, requires teamwork. Writers must craft structured content, while engineers build ingestion pipelines
