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Q&A Can "numbers" be good doc performance metrics? Is there a way to meaningfully interpret the quantitative user data we gather?

Qualities of the documentation itself, even quantitive ones, usually have little intrinsic value. However, quantitive impact of docs on other areas can be often precisely measured and meaningfully...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:04:52Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33596
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:04:52Z (over 4 years ago)
 **Qualities of the documentation itself** , even quantitive ones, usually have little intrinsic value.

However, **quantitive impact of docs on other areas** can be often precisely measured and meaningfully interpreted.

Some of the companies I worked with used the following quality metrics for documentation:

- **Number of support tickets**. If customer support is overloaded with questions concerning a single topic, then maybe the documentation on this topic is not perfect.

- **Number of failed deployments**. If a documented process/task regularly gets done in an incorrect way, then maybe it is not documented properly

- **Number of questions on a particular topic inside the team**. If newly hired engineers tend to ask the senior staff the same set of questions concerning a single topic, then maybe this topic is not covered well in technical onboarding docs.

The best thing about this kind of metrics is that they can be clearly communicated to business.

_– Our new user documentation has decreased the number of support tickets by X per cent? Great, so we've saved Y dollars we'd otherwise spend on outsourced technical support!_

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-02-04T12:44:37Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 4