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Information Development

Information development is the discipline of planning, creating, and maintaining the information users need to understand and use a product — commonly used interchangeably with "technical documentation" or "technical communication," especially in enterprise and software organizations. It spans the full content lifecycle across every delivery channel, from long-form docs to in-product help to AI-generated answers.

Further Reads

Agile Documentation

Documentation practices that align with agile development methodologies, emphasizing collaboration, flexibility, and responsiveness to change.

AI Copilot

An AI copilot is a tool that uses artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) to assist users with some kind of task.

API (Application Programming Interface)

Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of protocols that enable two different software programs to communicate.

Chunking

Chunking is the process of breaking content into smaller, self-contained units.

CI/CD for Docs

CI/CD for docs is the application of continuous integration and continuous delivery practices.

Component Content Management System

A specialized software system that facilitates the creation, management, and publishing of structured, modular content components enabling their efficient reuse and repurposing across multiple documents and channels.

Content Management

The execution of creating, organizing, storing, retrieving, publishing, and managing content throughout its lifecycle.

Content Management System (CMS)

A software solution or platform used to manage the creation, management, and publishing of digital content.

Content Operations

The combined foundation of people, processes, and technologies that allow for activating content strategy and enabling content management (execution) throughout its lifecycle.

Customer Retention

Enhance customer retention by focusing on loyalty programs, personalized recommendations and self-service to reduce churn.

What Is Customer Self-Service? Benefits & Examples

Customer self-service is a digital experience where users independently access information, troubleshoot problems, or perform tasks related to a product or service.

Decoupled CMS

A content management system with both a front-end presentation layer and a back-end content management layer that separates the content management functions from the user-facing display functions.

DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture)

DITA is a form of structured content that is optimized to create, reuse, translate, and publish documentation quickly by using topics and maps.

Docs as Code

Docs as code is the practice of managing documentation with the same tools and workflows software engineers use for code.

Faceted Search

A search technique that allows users to narrow down search results by applying one or more filters based on specific classifications or attributes of the items controlled by metadata.

Generative AI

Generative Artificial intelligence uses systems designed to understand and learn patterns from existing data and then create new, similar content on their own.

Headless CMS

A headless CMS is a content management system that stores and manages content without a built-in front-end display layer.

In-App Support

Build lasting customer relationships with retention strategies focused on satisfaction, personalization. Empower users through self-service solutions.

Independent Issue Resolution

Independent issue resolution is a fundamental shift away from primarily human-led support interactions and towards empowering customers to address problems autonomously without requiring direct, in-person assistance.

Information Development

Information development is the discipline of planning, creating, and maintaining the information users need to understand and use a product.

Knowledge Base

A knowledge base serves as a digital hub of information, encompassing product documentation, FAQs, articles, guides, visuals, and videos.

Knowledge Graph

A knowledge graph is a network of entities and the relationships between them.

LLM (Large Language Model)

An LLM is a machine learning model trained on massive amounts of text to understand and generate human language.

Machine-Readable Content

Machine-readable content is content structured and tagged so that software, not just human readers, can parse, interpret, and act on it automatically.

Metadata

Data that describes and gives information about other data or content.

Multi-Channel Support

Multi-channel support is the dynamic approach of providing customer self-service across various communication channels.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

RAG is an AI architecture that pairs a large language model with a retrieval system.

Release Notes

Documentation accompanying software updates, providing information about new features, improvements, and bug fixes.

Responsive Design

Designing content or websites to adapt to different devices and screen sizes.

Semantic Search

Semantic search is a search method that matches queries to content based on meaning and intent rather than exact keyword overlap.

Single Source of Truth

Single source of truth (SSOT) describes a state of being for company knowledge. In this state, all company knowledge is stored and managed centrally.

SME (Subject Matter Expert)

An individual with expertise in a specific topic or field, often consulted by technical writers for accurate information.

Snippet

A small piece or fragment of code or text that can be reused in various contexts.

Structured Content

Structured content is organized in a consistent and standardized manner through predefined structures or formats, facilitating automation, reuse, and adaptability across different platforms.

Structured Metadata (for AI)

Structured metadata for AI is descriptive, machine-readable data.

Style Guide

A set of standards for writing and designing documents, ensuring consistency in language, formatting, and presentation.

Style Sheet

A set of rules or conventions for the formatting and layout of documents, ensuring consistency.

Support Ticket Deflection

Support ticket deflection refers to the strategic practice of diverting and resolving customer queries or issues through alternative channels, such as self-service solutions, before they escalate to the need for a formal support ticket.

Taxonomy

A taxonomy is a classification system that organizes information into categories and subcategories, using a controlled vocabulary of terms specific to a particular field of knowledge.

Time-to-Publish

Time-to-publish is the amount of time it takes content to move from a completed draft to a live, published state across all required channels.

Translation Memory

Translation memory (TM) is a database that stores previously translated segments of content so they can be automatically reused the next time the same or similar text appears

Troubleshooting Guide

A troubleshooting guide is a series of step-by-step instructions that help customers identify and resolve common issues or problems with a product or service on their own.

User Persona

A representation of a specific user base segment for user-centered design.

Version Control

Managing changes to documents, programs, or other information over time.

Workflow

The sequence of tasks or steps involved in a particular process, often visualized as a flowchart.

XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations)

An XML-based language used, in conjunction with specialized processing software, for the transformation of XML documents into another format such as a web page or PDF document.

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