I Studied 20+ Software Documentation Examples — These Set the Standard

Well-crafted software documentation empowers technical writers, programmers, software engineers, and other stakeholders to create resources that effectively support both internal teams and external users.

Software documentation is a critical component of any software product. Without it, users struggle to maximize the software’s potential, while developers and programmers face challenges understanding prior work, especially during updates or maintenance.

Comprehensive user documentation is a key factor in software procurement, particularly for enterprise solutions. A company may invest millions in advanced software, but without proper documentation, it risks underusing the product and encountering recurring issues.

For software development companies, the lack of thorough documentation can create significant hurdles. Missing documentation for software requirements, architecture, or test plans reduces the likelihood of successful development. Additionally, if the original development team leaves, future developers may face difficulties continuing the work without proper records.

These challenges underline why companies prioritize and invest in creating detailed software documentation.

Types of Software Documentation

Software documentation can be divided into two primary categories:

• User Documentation.
• Developer Documentation.

User Documentation

User documentation, also known as end-user documentation, is designed for software users. It provides clear instructions for installing, configuring, and using the software. This type of documentation includes manuals, guides, and other resources that help users maximize the software’s functionality.

Software documentation is not just an additional resource—it’s an integral part of the product itself. Comprehensive user documentation is a major factor influencing businesses’ purchasing decisions, ensuring customers can fully utilize the software.

Developer Documentation

Developer documentation is intended for software developers, programmers, software engineers, project managers, and other stakeholders involved in the software development process. It covers essential aspects such as software requirements, design, architecture, and source code.

This documentation is typically created by technical writers or software developers during the development process. It acts as a reference for developers working on future updates or modifications. Developer documentation is also referred to as system documentation or internal software documentation.

Software Documentation Examples

Let’s explore some key software documentation examples.

User Documentation Examples

Here you can check specific user documentation examples.

User Manuals

A user manual, also referred to as a user guide or instruction manual, is a detailed document that helps users resolve issues or explore advanced software features. Its primary purpose is to help users use the software.

Creating manuals that are easy to follow is essential for every software product. A well-designed user manual enhances the customer experience by enabling users to navigate and use the software with ease.

Good user manuals share the following characteristics:

• They are searchable and logically organized.
• They use simple, clear language.
• They include visuals for better understanding.
• They provide links to relevant resources.

The following image shows the table of contents for the SAP Enterprise user manual.

In addition to software-specific information, user manuals often include specifications for the minimum hardware requirements needed to run the software.

How-to Guide

A how-to guide provides step-by-step instructions to help users complete specific tasks, such as installing, upgrading, or activating software.

These guides are particularly valuable for users with limited technical experience or those interacting with the software for the first time.

Previously, how-to guides were primarily available in printed formats, featuring descriptive text and images for clarity. Today, short video formats have become more common, offering concise, easy-to-follow instructions on platforms like YouTube and other social media channels.

If you want to blur personal information on a video, this video how-to guide from TechSmith shows how to do it with Snagit.

Quick Start Guide

A quick start guide (QSG) helps users set up and begin using software efficiently. Unlike user manuals, quick start guides are concise and focus only on the most essential information needed to get started.

Key benefits of quick start guides include:

• Improved clarity and ease of understanding.
• Empowering users to become operational quickly.
• Enhancing comprehension of software features.
• Contributing to a positive customer experience.

The following example is from the Windows 11 manual and shows users how to start using the Windows 10 desktop.

Quick start guides provide a simple way for users to familiarize themselves with the software without delving into extensive details. For more in-depth information, users can refer to resources such as user manuals, configuration guides, or troubleshooting guides.

Tutorials

Tutorials are an integral part of user documentation, created to teach knowledge and skills related to specific topics. Examples include tutorials on using a particular module of enterprise software or securing software from unauthorized access.

Some tutorials incorporate test questions to assess comprehension, while others are straightforward walkthroughs of software functionality. They are tailored for users at various skill levels, including beginners, intermediates, and advanced users.

Tutorials are available in both printed and multimedia formats. Video tutorials, in particular, have become increasingly popular as they are easy to follow and provide topic-specific information in an engaging audio-visual format.

Video tutorials offer on-demand learning, allowing users to access content at their convenience. They also enable users to revisit sections, take breaks, and learn at their own pace.

This video tutorial from Dropbox shows you how easy it is to save stuff to your dropbox account.

Administration Guide

For complex enterprise software, IT professionals working under an administrator handle daily operational tasks, such as adding new users, managing access rights, and performing data backups.

An administration guide provides the instructions administrators and their teams need to configure and maintain the software.

These guides are often developed for large-scale business software used by thousands of employees. Such software typically follows a server-client architecture, where the “server software” operates on one or multiple servers, and employees access it via “client software” installed on their desktops, laptops, or mobile devices.

Server software is inherently complex, requiring installation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance by experts. Administration guides assist IT administrators and their teams in managing these tasks.

IT teams also handle the setup and configuration of client software, resolving any issues that may arise during or after installation.

While administration guides and configuration guides may overlap, their audiences differ. Administration guides are tailored for IT experts and network administrators with advanced technical knowledge, whereas configuration guides target general users with less technical expertise.

The following example is taken from the Polycom UC Software administrator’s guide. It shows the steps required to change the administration password on an IP phone.

Troubleshooting Guide

Troubleshooting guides, also known as troubleshooting manuals, provide a list of common issues and step-by-step solutions.

In addition to addressing specific problems, these guides often include a systematic approach for resolving issues. Since it’s impossible to document every potential problem a user might encounter, a structured process helps users troubleshoot most scenarios in an organized and effective way.

The following documentation example is from Oracle’s Content Server Troubleshooting Guide. The “symptom” is what the customer experiences during software use, and the “problem” is the actual cause of the symptom. The “recommendation” is the solution the software developer proposes to solve the problem. Depending on the situation, the recommendation could be simple or a detailed series of steps.

Configuration Guide

Enterprise-level software often involves hundreds or even thousands of settings that require configuration. These settings vary depending on the customer’s specific needs. A configuration guide provides the essential information system administrators need to configure the software to meet those requirements.

The following example is taken from the Configuration Guide for Cisco IOS Release 15.1S. It shows summary steps and detailed steps for configuring the IP Routing R4 feature on Cisco devices.

External Knowledge Base

A knowledge base is a centralized library of information about software, designed to help users find solutions independently without needing additional support. Knowledge bases often combine text, images, and video content to enhance accessibility and understanding.

An external knowledge base, also called a customer-facing knowledge base, provides customers with all the information they need about a company’s software products and services. These resources are typically public and easily accessible online. For most software, the “Help” or “Documentation” section serves as the external knowledge base.

The following image shows the Asana knowledge base, a popular tool for project managers. Asana’s knowledge base is an excellent way of learning the ins and outs of the platform.

Asana provides comprehensive documentation on its knowledge base. The navigation is intuitive, with articles that flow naturally from one to the next. This knowledge base is so effective that new users usually need only a few hours to become Asana experts.

FAQs

FAQs address commonly asked or anticipated user questions. They focus on topics that don’t require extensive technical detail and can typically be explained in one or two concise paragraphs.

FAQ pages offer several benefits:

• Enhance the customer experience by providing quick answers.
• Help customers make informed purchasing decisions.
• Reduce the workload of customer support teams by addressing simple queries.
• Improve search engine visibility to increase discoverability.
• Support sales by offering essential information users need to make a decision.

The following example shows the WhatsApp FAQ page. The FAQs are organized into relevant categories for users to refer to.

Developer Documentation Examples

These are some examples of developer documentation.

UX Design Documentation Examples

User Experience (UX) refers to how individuals interact with a product. In the context of digital design, UX encompasses all aspects of a user’s interaction with a digital product, including both their thoughts and emotions, as well as the environment in which the product is used.

UX design focuses on creating products that are both practical and user-friendly. It requires a thorough understanding of users—their needs, behaviors, and the context in which they interact with the product. The ultimate goal of UX design is to deliver products that are both functional and valuable to users and businesses.

As a critical part of product design, UX design starts during the requirements stage and continues through all phases of software development, including testing and post-release. UX documentation typically includes user personas, user scenarios, user story maps, and a UX style guide.

User Personas

Personas are fictional representations of users, but they are grounded in factual data. They capture the goals, characteristics, motivations, and behaviors of actual users.

By humanizing the user base, personas enable UX design and project teams to reach a shared understanding of who the users are. They also serve as a tool for communicating key user insights.

Additionally, user personas help identify potential obstacles or challenges users might face when interacting with the software or product.

Image Source: uxplanet

User Flow Diagrams

User flows, also called user journeys, are diagrams that map the steps a user takes as they interact with a product. These comprehensive diagrams illustrate the journey from the moment a user identifies a need to the point where they achieve their goal.

Benefits of user flow diagrams include:

• Providing a quick and clear visualization of the process without the need to switch between applications.
• Highlighting all possible user paths in a single image, unlike prototypes, which focus on the final solution.
• Allowing tasks to be visualized early, before creating mockups or prototypes.

Image Source: draw.io

Wireframes

Wireframes are blueprints that outline the user interface (UI) elements—such as text, images, buttons, and links—that form a screen, page, or UI component.

These diagrams define the UI’s structure and detail how its elements should function. However, wireframes do not depict the final visual design of the interface.

Benefits of wireframes include:

• Clearly visualizing the interface’s structure.
• Clarifying the features and functionality of the UI.
• Prioritizing usability during the design process.
• Refining navigation to enhance user experience.
• Saving time and effort in the development process.
• Streamlining content development.

Image Source: Balsamiq

Sitemaps

A sitemap serves as a blueprint for a website or application, outlining the pages or screens that compose its structure.

Sitemaps often highlight groupings, such as site sections, and illustrate the links or connections between pages or screens.

The following image shows an example sitemap for a digital product.

Image Source: uxforthemasses.com

Software Requirements Specification (SRS)

A Software Requirements Specification (SRS) defines the software system to be developed, outlining both functional and non-functional requirements. It may also include use cases that describe user interactions the software must support.

The SRS serves as a foundational document, establishing an agreement between customers and contractors or suppliers on how the software should function. It also captures the technical and business assumptions related to the project.

According to the International Standard ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2018 (Systems and software engineering — Life cycle processes — Requirements engineering), documenting software requirements specifications offers several benefits:

• Provides a realistic basis for estimating product costs, risks, and schedules.
• Informs the deployment of a product to new users or operational environments.
• Establishes a foundation for product enhancement.
• Encourages rigorous requirements assessment before design begins, reducing the need for redesign later.
• Defines agreements between acquirers and suppliers on what the product is intended to do.
• Supports the development of validation and verification plans.

The following image shows the table of contents for the SRS of a software tool.

Software Design Description (SDD)

A Software Requirements Specification (SRS) serves as the foundation for the Software Design Description (SDD), which outlines the software’s design and architecture.

The SDD ensures alignment within the project team, including software developers, while also allowing stakeholders to review the complete design. It helps identify and address risks and assumptions early in the process.

An SDD typically includes the following components:

• Data Design: Defines the structures within the software, focusing on attributes and relationships between data objects that guide the choice of data structures.
• Architecture Design: Maps information flow characteristics into the program structure, using data flow diagrams to allocate control input, processing, and output across modules.
• Interface Design: Details internal and external program interfaces, as well as the design of the human interface.
• Procedural Design: Describes structured programming concepts using graphical, tabular, and textual notations.

The following image shows the table of contents for the SDD of a web application.

Source Code Documentation

Source code comprises the programming language statements that form a software product. It represents the instructions and logic that developers create to build a program.

Source code documentation includes all the programs related to a software product. It serves as a valuable reference for developers working on future versions of the software and for those who may repurpose components for other projects. Its primary purpose is to enhance the product’s maintainability, regardless of who is working with the code.

While some argue that well-written code should be self-explanatory, this is not always the case. Complex algorithms or custom workarounds may require additional explanation to ensure clarity for other developers. Proper documentation also expedites troubleshooting and problem resolution after a product’s release.

Source code documentation outlines dependencies between system modules and third-party tools, making it essential for integration purposes. It typically includes comments embedded within the code and is logically structured to improve readability and comprehension.

The following image shows an example of documented source code. In this example, the conceptual content and steps appear in the middle column and the source code appears on the right.

Software Test Documentation

Software development follows an iterative process: the software is developed, tested, and refined as errors (bugs) are identified and resolved. Once a stable version is ready, the process begins again for the next iteration.

Software test documentation includes detailed plans and procedures for testing the software effectively.

Key components of software test documentation include:

• Master Test Plan (MTP): Outlines the overall test strategy.
• Level Test Plan (LTP): Describes the approach, resources, and schedule for specific testing activities.
• Level Test Design (LTD): Details the test cases and pass criteria.
• Level Test Procedure (LTP): Specifies the step-by-step test procedures, including prerequisites.
• Level Test Report (LTR): Summarizes the results of tests conducted at a specific level.
• Master Test Report: Provides a comprehensive summary of the overall testing outcomes.

The following image shows the table of contents for the IEEE Standard for Software Test Documentation.

API Documentation

API stands for Application Programming Interface. An API is a software intermediary that enables two applications to interact.

API documentation provides clear instructions for effectively using and integrating with an API, ensuring developers can seamlessly connect their applications.

The following example shows API documentation from Twilio. 

SDK Documentation

A Software Development Kit (SDK) is a collection of tools designed to help developers build software for a specific platform. It typically includes building blocks, debuggers, and code libraries, such as routines tailored to a particular operating system (OS).

SDK documentation provides detailed instructions for effectively using an SDK, ensuring developers can leverage its tools to streamline their development process.

The following image shows AWS SDK documentation for JavaScript.

UML Diagrams

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) provides a standardized method for visualizing the design of a software system.

Creating UML diagrams before writing any code helps programmers track all system components and understand their relationships.

Benefits of UML diagrams include:

• Facilitating effective communication of software architecture.
• Offering flexibility in representing different aspects of a system.
• Improving ease of understanding for all stakeholders.
• Supporting program planning before development begins.

The current UML standard includes 13 diagram types, organized into two categories:

• Structural Diagrams: Class, object, package, component, composite structure, and deployment diagrams.
• Behavioral or Interaction Diagrams: Activity, use case, sequence, state, communication, interaction overview, and timing diagrams.

The following image shows a UML diagram for Domain Models.

Image Source: Lucidchart

Internal Knowledge Base

An internal knowledge base is a centralized resource where employees can collaborate and share all company knowledge and information intended for internal use.

It plays a critical role in preserving organizational knowledge and improving productivity. As teams contribute to the knowledge base during projects, it enables other team members to access new ideas and accelerate innovation. Instead of spending time searching for information, employees can quickly retrieve what they need, streamlining workflows.

Additionally, an internal knowledge base reduces the time required for employee onboarding and training, ensuring quicker integration and knowledge transfer.

The following image is the landing page for an internal knowledge base made with Papyrs.

Product Roadmap

A product roadmap is a type of internal product documentation that outlines the plan of action for the evolution of a software product. It serves as a guide for both business and technical teams, ensuring alignment on goals and priorities.

The following example shows a release roadmap for a software product. This roadmap helps visualize what needs to happen to deliver upcoming releases. With the visual timeline, you can view the scope of work and zoom into specific features. You can also include milestones for important dates such as deadlines or approvals. 

Image Source: Roadmunk

In addition to release roadmaps, there are several other types of roadmaps, each serving specific purposes:

• Portfolio Roadmaps: Provide a single view of planned releases across multiple software products. These roadmaps offer a strategic overview for company leadership and highlight how various product teams collaborate.
• Features Roadmaps: Outline the timeline for delivering new features. They are useful for sharing details of upcoming features with customers and internal teams.
• Strategy Roadmaps: Focus on high-level initiatives aligned with product goals. These roadmaps are effective for demonstrating progress to leadership and ensuring multi-disciplinary teams remain aligned with the overall business strategy.

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Conclusion

Comprehensive documentation is a vital part of any software solution.

The two primary categories of software documentation are:

User Documentation: Assists users in understanding the software, its features, configuration, usage, and troubleshooting.

Developer Documentation: Supports software developers, programmers, and other stakeholders by ensuring a smooth development process and compliance with all requirements.

Technical writers, programmers, and other stakeholders collaborate to create and maintain thorough software documentation.

Producing software documentation no longer needs to be a fully manual task. Modern software documentation tools provide templates and features to simplify the creation and management of documents. These tools streamline the process, allowing for faster document creation and easier distribution to internal teams or external users. The best tools also enable seamless publishing and sharing of documents to meet specific audience needs.

FAQs

What is software documentation?

Software documentation is a type of technical documentation that provides information about a software product. It ensures users and developers can understand, use, and maintain the software effectively. Examples include user manuals, developer guides, and API documentation.

Why is user documentation important?

User documentation helps end-users learn how to install, configure, and use software efficiently. It improves customer satisfaction, reduces support requests, and plays a significant role in the decision-making process for software procurement.

What are the types of software documentation?

The two main types of software documentation are user documentation and developer documentation. User documentation is intended for end-users, while developer documentation is created for developers, software engineers, and other stakeholders involved in the software development process.

How can I create effective software documentation?

To create effective software documentation:

• Use simple and clear language.
• Include visuals like diagrams, screenshots, and videos.
• Organize content logically with headings and subheadings.
• Test the documentation with users to ensure it’s helpful and understandable.

What are the benefits of using software documentation tools?

Software documentation tools streamline the process of creating, maintaining, and distributing documentation. They provide templates, collaboration features, and allow easy integration with other tools, ensuring faster and more efficient documentation management.

What are common challenges in creating software documentation?

Some challenges include:

• Balancing technical depth with readability for a diverse audience.
• Keeping documentation up-to-date with software updates.
• Ensuring consistency and accuracy across multiple contributors.
• Addressing the needs of users with varying technical expertise.

Who is responsible for creating software documentation?

Software documentation is typically created through collaboration among:

• Technical Writers: Focus on creating clear, concise, and user-friendly content.
• Developers: Provide technical insights and contribute to code-related documentation.
• Product Managers and UX Designers: Ensure the documentation aligns with user needs and business goals.

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