Great developer experience (DX) transforms your product from just + another tool into one that developers genuinely love. But how exactly do you achieve + a DX that not only meets expectations but consistently delights?
+ +Drawing from my extensive hands-on experience as a Developer Evangelist, I''ll + share 15 proven, practical techniques to elevate your product''s developer experience + significantly. These strategies span beyond documentation to include interactive + playgrounds, ready-to-use boilerplates tailored for various programming languages, + streamlined CLI tooling for common tasks, optimized documentation search functionality, + and intuitive visual navigation cues.
+ +This isn''t a theoretical overview; it''s a session filled with actionable + insights and real-world examples that attendees can apply directly. You''ll discover:
+ +By the end of this talk, you''ll have practical tools and clear insights to + proactively enhance your product’s DX, helping to increase developer productivity, + engagement, and satisfaction. Whether you''re a developer advocate, technical + writer, product manager, or developer, this session will equip you to transform + your developer experience into a standout feature of your product.
' +- title: 'Activating Product Knowledge: Where Global Education Meets Documentation' + slug: activating-product-knowledge-where-global-education-meets-documentation-stephan-delbos + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Stephan Delbos + slug: stephan-delbos + twitter: + website: + abstract: 'When my technical documentation team merged with global education, + we weren’t sure what would come of it. We were focused on software documentation, + and they were focused on training hotel staff to utilize that software. But what + we discovered was a shared goal: activating product knowledge to help people work + better, faster, and with more confidence.
+ +We began to treat education as a content layer: not separate from product documentation + but as a powerful complement to it. This shift opened up new ways to collaborate + on onboarding, feature launches, and help content. We aligned our approaches to + learning outcomes, audience segmentation, and feedback loops, using documentation + as a foundation for scalable learning experiences.
+ +In this talk, I’ll share how we broke down silos between documentation and + education to create a content ecosystem that drives product adoption across a + global user base.
+ +Takeaways:
+ +By connecting documentation and education, we moved from “how it works” to + “how to use it well,” turning knowledge into activation.
' +- title: 'If you build it, they will come: Our journey to a unified (and discoverable) + documentation platform' + slug: if-you-build-it-they-will-come-our-journey-to-a-unified-and-discoverable-doc-ian-cowley + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Ian Cowley + slug: ian-cowley + twitter: + website: https://www.dufcrule.com/ + abstract: 'Following the acquisition of multiple companies and their different + ranges of software platforms, our organisation ended up with a fragmented documentation + landscape. It''s a situation that might be familiar to many: our docs were spread + across various systems, websites, departments, companies, and formats.
+ +The main issue was one of discoverability. The documentation was scattered + and unorganised, and our users struggled to find the information they needed, + when they needed it. At times they were unaware if it even existed. In addition, + each piece of documentation followed its own conventions, had different levels + of detail, or was organised in a unique way, making it hard to navigate or understand + as a whole. Some product documentation was covered only by FAQs, while other software + platforms had more detailed user guides. In other cases, we were sending out PDFs + generated from Word docs and API documentation was scattered across different + websites and used different tooling. Compounding these issues, our documentation + teams themselves were geographically dispersed, each operating with different + practices.
+ +This is the story of our journey to consolidating our public-facing documentation + into a single website.
' +- title: 'A beautiful reciprocal arrangement: Gaining experience and giving back through + open source documentation' + slug: a-beautiful-reciprocal-arrangement-gaining-experience-and-giving-back-through-o-tiffany-hrabusa + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Tiffany Hrabusa + slug: tiffany-hrabusa + twitter: + website: + abstract: 'This talk charts one writer’s unconventional path from law librarian + to technical writer through open source software (OSS). It illustrates how contributing + to OSS can build your skills, professional network, and confidence—even if you + start with no experience. Maybe you’re brand new to technical writing. Maybe you’ve + written professionally but never documented software. Or maybe you’ve got years + of experience in software documentation, but you’ve never written docs-as-code. + You’ll get a practical, step-by-step guide to getting involved with and gaining + experience from OSS projects.
+ +Throughout the talk, Tiffany will share hard-earned insights, including how + to pick the right project, overcome anxiety, find the right first issue, avoid + contributor pitfalls, build a varied portfolio, expand your network, and gain + real experience you can use on applications and in interviews. But just as important, + this talk will encourage you to reach a place of OSS symbiosis—where you grow + through giving back.
+ +Whether you’re a new technical writer looking for experience or a seasoned + pro exploring new skills, this talk will give you the tools and encouragement + you need to confidently enter the OSS ecosystem.
' +- title: So you've become a Docs Lead. Now what? + slug: so-you-ve-become-a-docs-lead-now-what-kat-stoica-ostenfeld + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Kat Stoica Ostenfeld + slug: kat-stoica-ostenfeld + twitter: + website: + abstract: 'A lot of people are promoted into Leads roles without proper knowledge + about what it means, how it will affect them, and how to proceed.
+ +Here are things that I have learned along the way, that I think are relevant + for all new-ish Leads to know; some of them especially for documentarians.
+ +There is a plethora of tools and frameworks for creating technical + documentation, spanning from WYSIWYG content management systems to Git-based docs-as-code + approaches - or even Word files on a shared disk. All of these methods can be + the right solution for a specific scenario. (Or wait ... maybe not the Word files. + And doesn''t everyone use Markdown nowadays anyway?)
+ +Imagine yourself in a position where you can start (or start over) with your + documentation from scratch. Which tool should you choose, and how can you know + it is the "right" tool for you?
+ +This talk will not give any answers. It will, however, give you a LOT of questions! +
+ +Answering these questions for your particular scenario will give you a good + idea of what you need from your documentation framework, and consequently let + you choose the right tool for YOUR job. And ideally, you will also have a good + set of arguments to convince your boss!
' +- title: Automating Documentation Maintenance Workflow Process for Agile Teams + slug: automating-documentation-maintenance-workflow-process-for-agile-teams-dimple-poojary + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Dimple Poojary + slug: dimple-poojary + twitter: + website: + abstract: 'As a senior technical writer, I''ve long grappled with the persistent + challenge of keeping documentation current and accurate. The manual process of + tracking which documents needed updates, assigning them to team members and reminding + them to update documentation for their respective product categories often felt + like an uphill battle, consuming valuable time and resources.
+ +In the fast-paced world of agile development, documentation can quickly become + outdated without active management. This issue is widespread; studies show that + inconsistent documentation is a significant roadblock to collaboration and a major + challenge in agile development without active management.
+ +I realized there had to be a better way to seamlessly integrate documentation + maintenance into our daily agile workflow and foster a sense of shared and continued + ownership.
+ +In this session, learn how I tackled this problem head-on by designing and + implementing a robust automated workflow linked directly to our sprint board by + leveraging our existing tools; this transformed how our team approached documentation + maintenance. What was once a burdensome manual process is now a streamlined, automated + part of every sprint cycle.
' +- title: Portable docs for data sovereignty + slug: portable-docs-for-data-sovereignty-val-grimm + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Val Grimm + slug: val-grimm + twitter: + website: https://linkedin.com/in/vlgrimm + abstract: 'A portable documentation publishing approach is particularly relevant + right now because many organizations in Europe are interested in regaining their + digital sovereignty by transitioning away from technology solutions developed + and delivered outside of the EU. Our approach to portability does not fundamentally + rely on closed proprietary technologies or cloud platforms, although we used our + preferred tools to implement our solution.
+ +We had a documentation publishing problem that a simple static site could not + solve. The platform we were creating for our customer consisted of multiple independent + components and was required to operate on a variety of cloud solutions, as well + as on-premises in air-gapped facilities. We also didn''t want activities related + to documentation to muddy the commit histories of our component repositories.
+ +Our team solved these issues by approaching our documentation in the same way + as we did the rest of our platform: we delivered it as an independent containerized + component that we could deploy to all of our platforms in the same way as any + other application.
+ +This talk is not a tutorial. It explains key concepts and provides an illustration + of how we applied a containerization approach to meet our needs.
' +- title: 'What''s past is prologue: Write the Docs, communities, and organizing techcomm' + slug: what-s-past-is-prologue-write-the-docs-communities-and-organizing-techcomm-jennifer-rondeau + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Jennifer Rondeau + slug: jennifer-rondeau + twitter: + website: (well, I still maintain it anyway ;)) https://www.yourmom.io/ + abstract: 'I''d like to revisit my WTD Prague 2015 talk that was (sorta) about + the history of techcomm in the United States, to talk more about international + communities and organizations, the changing-but-maybe-not-so-different contexts + within which technical writers work, and how Write the Docs in particular has + developed over time.
+ +The 2015 talk ultimately focused on individuals, their stories and a little + of the institutional background against which their stories developed. This year + I want to talk about communities:
+ +There''s a lot of overlap in interest and membership across all these examples + (and others I''ve missed), but they are or have been organized differently and + for different purposes. Techwr-l was modelled on old usenet groups (I''d say more + about what this means), while the much older STC and the much newer tekom both + follow the professional association model, which itself is considerably older + still.
+ +Write the Docs began and continues less formally, but has come to serve many + of the same needs for its members. What are the differences and similarities, + and how might considering change over time in all these communities help us to + imagine where we might go next?
' +- title: 'Failing Well: A Practical Guide to Growth for Technical Writers' + slug: failing-well-a-practical-guide-to-growth-for-technical-writers-fabrizio-ferri-benedetti + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Fabrizio Ferri-Benedetti + slug: fabrizio-ferri-benedetti + twitter: + website: https://passo.uno + abstract: 'Some days, you feel stuck. The work feels repetitive, the promotions + don''t come, and you start to wonder if you''re really growing at all. I know + that feeling well. This talk is about my journey through those plateaus. We''ll + look at failure not as a dead end, but as a signal to look deeper. This is a field + guide for moving through those challenges and taking ownership of our professional + lives.
+ +I''ve written a lot about failure and growth because, like many of you, I''ve + lived through both. This talk is a synthesis of my most personal thoughts on the + subject, combining the reflections from "Failing (and surviving failure)" with + the framework from "How to grow as a technical writer." My goal is to offer a + humane, honest look at how we can direct our careers with intention.
+ +This isn''t another talk about climbing the career ladder. It''s a confession, + a reflection, and a collection of strategies for finding purpose in our work. + My hope is that people will leave feeling less alone in their struggles and with + a new perspective to help them direct their own professional journey, especially + on the days when that journey feels uphill.
' +- title: 'Rethinking your how-tos: From instructions to solving user problems' + slug: rethinking-your-how-tos-from-instructions-to-solving-user-problems-diana-breza + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Diana Breza + slug: diana-breza + twitter: + website: + abstract: '“When I run the code example in the docs, it doesn’t work.”
+ +“I ran the steps in the doc, but I’m still getting an error.”
+ +Sound familiar? If so, you might need to rethink your how-tos. That’s okay, + we did too. And we’re going to show you how we fixed them.
+ +At Kong, our team of six writers and one docs tooling engineer supports 12 + products, and we know how quickly how-to docs can get out-of-date. Over the course + of a year, we completely rebuilt our approach to documentation, including how-tos. + We focused on how users actually interact with docs, copy/pasting down the page, + and rewrote our content to match that behavior. Now, instead of broken, frustrating + guides, our how-tos reflect real-world tasks—and we’ll show you how to do the + same in just 30 minutes.
+ +After listening to this talk, you will have:
+ +It doesn’t matter if your how-tos cover APIs, UI, or something in between, + these strategies are tool-agnostic and user-first.
' +- title: 'Documenting Digital Infrastructure: Explaining Complex Open Source Technologies + for Everyone' + slug: documenting-digital-infrastructure-explaining-complex-open-source-technologies-powen-shiah + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Powen Shiah + slug: powen-shiah + twitter: + website: powenshiah.com + abstract: 'When your audience includes both government officials and kernel developers, + how do you write in a way that works for everyone? At the Sovereign Tech Agency, + we invest in critical open source infrastructure like coreutils, FFmpeg, and systemd—technologies + that power everything from scientific research to banking systems. Coming from + a marketing background in tech startups, I never expected to find myself explaining + time synchronization protocols or memory-safe system utilities to policy analysts + or legislative aides.
+ +Over the past two years, I''ve had to rapidly develop a writing style that + serves a dual purpose: transparency about public investments and advocacy for + digital infrastructure that most people don''t even know exists. This isn''t traditional + technical documentation—it''s public accountability and infrastructure advocacy. + Working with maintainers of dozens of open source projects, I''ve learned to navigate + the delicate balance between preserving technical accuracy and making content + comprehensible to policymakers, journalists, and concerned citizens who need to + understand what their tax money is funding.
+ +This process involves coordinating with distributed open source communities, + reviewing internal technical assessments, and crafting narratives that explain + why we chose to invest in a “memory-safe replacement for GNU coreutils” and what + that investment will accomplish—without losing the technical nuance that developers + and security experts need to evaluate our work. But our mission goes beyond funding: + we''re advocates for making digital infrastructure visible and valued.
+ +Writing about technologies like PTP and NTP, I found myself documenting what + felt like magic—explaining how we measure and coordinate time across billions + of devices, while including the human stories behind these systems, like the blind + NTP maintainer who did this crucial work until his death in 2024.
' +- title: '“Gyadaros has pretty teeth, dear”: Theatre, Pokémon, and software docs' + slug: gyadaros-has-pretty-teeth-dear-theatre-pok-mon-and-software-docs-maximilian-rosin + series: Write the Docs Berlin + series_slug: berlin + year: 2025 + speakers: + - name: Maximilian Rosin + slug: maximilian-rosin + twitter: + website: mrosin.net + abstract: 'One question has been haunting me for years: why do computers persistently + mislead even highly competent people about their characteristics and capabilities? + web3, digital twins, autonomous robots, LLMs, metaverse, augmented reality—all + are mired in interpretations, expectations, and applications almost completely + divorced from their material reality.
+ +One possible answer lies in an idea from early 90s HCI research: computers + as theatre. Since a computer is essentially a black box, every interaction + is bound to happen in a representational, metaphorical realm—just like a theatrical + performance. In theatre, both audience and actors suspend their disbelief for + the duration of the performance, and immerse themselves in the illusions created + on stage in order to change something about their relationship to the world. Similarly, + computer users engage with the imaginary worlds of computers to achieve real-world + effects. They “move a file in the trash” by “pressing a button”, while actually + doing neither, and yet it has real consequences. Problems ensue when the illusion + persists even though the performance has ended, or the program has been shut down.
+ +This poses an interesting challenge to technical communicators. How do you + write truthfully about products that are pure representation? Should you embrace + the illusion, and to what extend? How do you maintain the link to reality? How + do you prevent your metaphors and narratives from escaping confinement? How do + you shut down the performance?
+ +In this talk, I want to tackle this challenge by answering three questions:
+ ++
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