Summary
Picture this: You spend weeks writing up your UX Playbook. Your Playbook covers every design and research method your team might use, when to use it, and how. It’s PERFECT. And... no one reads it. I’ve been there! I’ve led or contributed to 4 Playbooks, 2 toolkits and uncountable miscellaneous “how to” docs in my 8 years as a UX Designer and Operations Manager. In this talk, we’ll cover how to: avoid common pitfalls in documentation, discover what your team needs most, apply a design process to your documentation efforts and deliver incremental value through documentation your team will actually use.
Key Insights
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Documentation should focus on actionable and clear instructions rather than generic content.
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Easy navigation is crucial; if people can't find the information, it becomes useless.
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Cognitive overload can be minimized by breaking down information into digestible parts and using visual hierarchy.
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Regularly updating content is necessary to maintain trust and usability of the playbook.
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Empathizing with team members helps identify their actual needs and biggest frustrations with existing documentation.
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Incremental delivery of documentation ensures teams can provide feedback early, improving the final product.
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Utilizing design thinking principles can enhance the documentation creation process.
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Involving team members in content ownership fosters collaboration and increases documentation utilization.
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Tracking adoption metrics and understanding content usage is essential for refining documentation.
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Documentation should be continuously iterated upon as processes and tools evolve.
Notable Quotes
"Documentation must be actionable and reflect your organization's practices, not just generic information."
"If folks can't find the information, it doesn't matter how well it's written."
"You need to understand how people are working and what they need help with."
"Leave out generic content and focus on what your team needs."
"Imagine if team members find broken links in your playbook – it erodes trust."
"Empathize with your team to ensure the documentation meets their needs."
"Don't hide away for six months trying to build the perfect documentation."
"Deliver small complete sections to get feedback sooner rather than waiting for a finished product."
"A playbook is not a one-hit wonder; it needs ongoing maintenance and updates."
"Encourage team adoption by sharing documentation widely and pinning it in accessible channels."
More Videos
"It's impossible to dispute a pin you get from customers."
Discussion
June 9, 2017
"Resilience means the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties."
Bria AlexanderTheme 1 Intro
September 23, 2024
"Adaptability really helps teams win in a dynamic work environment."
Benjamin Wiedmaier Annie MayfieldRedefining Toolkits: Unbundling to Create a Perfect Match
March 11, 2025
"We wanted everyone to access patterns easily, but we also needed accountability for those patterns."
Eniola OluwoleLessons From the DesignOps Journey of the World's Largest Travel Site
October 24, 2019
"Engaging with historically black colleges and universities can enhance our pool of diverse applicants."
Justin Entzminger Terrance Smith Tracy M. Colunga Mai-Ling GarciaRisk and Reward: How to Diversify the Field of Civic Innovators and Designers
November 17, 2022
"Welcome to day three of Design Ops Summit 2023."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
October 4, 2023
"I want you to take a little time out of your week and say, hey, what is it like working for me?"
Holly ColeUnderstanding Experiences: When you have to do more than work
November 8, 2018
"There's no perfect truth; what matters is the practical usefulness of research outcomes."
Mohammad Hossein JarrahiContextuality problem: Exploring the Benefits of Qualitative and Quantitative Research
January 20, 2023
"During roadmapping time, let’s talk to each other and discover those synergies."
Brad Peters Anne MamaghaniShort Take #1: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
December 6, 2022
