Hey, I'm Alexandra White.
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June 28, 2019 Speaking

Speaking announcement: Build Stuff 2019

I’ve got my next speaking assignment, and I’m going back to Eastern Europe! I’ll be speaking at Build Stuff Lithuania and Build Stuff Ukraine this coming November.

This talk was influenced by one I gave while I was an engineer at WNET.

Technically Speaking: Improve Your Code with Documentation

Well written instructions, informative comments throughout code, clearly scripted screencasts, and smart information architecture can take complex code and make it accessible to new developers. In the age of code sharing, this can be imperative to teaching the next generation of developers, passing along your code to successors, and help you better understand your own work.

When I was an engineer, helpful READMEs and other docs created by my colleagues were crucial to quick on-boarding and coming back to old products. Now, as a full time technical writer, I rely on our engineers to be able to concisely explain how products work. From these experiences, I feel it is essential that everyone feel empowered to write documentation, not just the technical writers.

In this talk we’ll discuss:

  • Why writing docs is important for engineers
  • Understanding your audience
  • Optimizing for the deliverable: READMEs, code comments, help center docs, and marketing materials

We’ll also cover some tips for communicating about your past work to your future self.