How to turn legacy docs into user-story-based, modular content to better serve users while reducing maintenance load and overall amount of docs.
It has become cumbersome to wade through chapters upon chapters of docs, looking for the relevant bits, especially with the advent of embedded applications, container deployments, and other usage scenarios that target highly specialized use cases. We need topic-based, action-oriented content to guide users through specific tasks. So, how do we turn the voluminous guides of yesterday into lean, modularized narratives that are easy to maintain, scale well, and still allow for a ‘guide-like’ experience when it is required? In this presentation, Robert Kratky will describe the work docs writers at Red Hat are doing to solve this problem: re-purposing the existing body of documentation, so that its parts – adapted into modular units to allow for reuse – can be dynamically combined.
Traditionally, Linux documentation has been perceived as lacking in user friendliness and oftentimes in quality or scope. This presentation will help attendees understand what problems Linux (and OSS) documentation faces, what is being done to remedy the problems, and how can existing documentation be improved or re-purposed to address future requirements and user expectations. The audience is anyone interested in documentation for Linux and open-source products, which includes technical writers, content strategists, support engineers, developers, and members of management who want to understand documentation processes and new methods of supporting users through documentation. Attendees can expect a presentation and discussion of ways to modernize existing documentation and adapt it for new expectations with regard to content consumption.
Speakers: Robert Kratky