Executive Summary

Our survey of technical documentation professionals reveals significant challenges and opportunities in the field. With responses from a diverse range of roles and company sizes, the data provides valuable insights into the current state of technical documentation.

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Key findings include:

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• 85% of technical writers spend 2+ hours weekly just trying to get information from SMEs

• 67% don't measure documentation effectiveness despite knowing they should

• 79% express high interest in AI assistance for documentation tasks

• 73% have no dedicated budget for professional development

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These findings highlight common pain points across the industry and suggest opportunities for improved processes, tools, and collaboration approaches.

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About This Survey

This survey was conducted in May-June 2025 among technical documentation professionals to understand current challenges, tools, and practices in the field. The findings reveal consistent patterns that align with broader industry trends.

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Who Participated

Our respondents represented diverse roles and company sizes:

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Roles:

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• Technical Writers (40%)

• Documentation Managers/Leads (20%)

• Content Strategists (13%)

• Product Managers (13%)

• Other/Multiple Roles (14%)

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Company Sizes:

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• Enterprise (500+ employees): 40%

• Mid-size (50-500 employees): 33%

• Startup (<50 employees): 27%

 

The SME Collaboration Challenge

The struggle to obtain information from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) continues to be the most significant pain point for technical writers.

 

• 85% spend more than 2 hours weekly just trying to get information from SMEs

• 36% spend 5-10 hours weekly on this task alone (effectively a part-time job)

• 7% spend 10+ hours weekly chasing information

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Most Common SME Excuses:

 

1. "I'll get to it after this sprint" (forever) - 86%

2. "The code is self-documenting" - 57%

3. "No one reads documentation anyway" - 43%

4. "Can't you just figure it out?" - 36%

5. "That's not my job" - 29%

6. "I already explained it in Slack somewhere" - 21%

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"Honestly, it is hard to have any wins when senior management has decided to axe the entire technical writing team without a plan for how technical documentation is going to be created or maintained in the future."

— Anonymous Survey Respondent

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The Measurement Gap

Despite growing pressure to demonstrate value, most documentation teams lack formal measurement practices:

 

• 67% don't measure documentation effectiveness (but know they should)

• Only 33% actively measure their documentation's impact

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Among those who do measure, the most common metrics are:

• Support ticket reduction

• Page analytics

• User feedback/surveys

 

"I created a Document Quality Feedback survey in SurveyMonkey. We are starting the process of putting a link to the survey in all of our technical documents. This will be one way to measure each document's effectiveness."

— Anonymous Survey Respondent

Tools & Documentation Types

Primary Documentation Tools:

• Confluence (47%)

• Markdown/Git-based solutions (33%)

• Word/SharePoint (20%)

• Other specialized tools (40%)

Note: Many use multiple tools

Documentation Types Created:

• End-user guides (53%)

• "All of the above - I wear many hats" (27%)

• API/Developer docs (13%)

• Knowledge base articles (7%)

 

The AI Opportunity

Interest in AI assistance for documentation tasks is extremely high, with 79% of respondents expressing interest in AI tools for documentation.

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Top AI Applications Desired:

 

1. First draft from messy SME notes

2. Updating docs after product changes

3. Extracting answers from support tickets

4. Creating code examples that actually work

5. Reformatting content for different audiences

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"I imported our docs into NotebookLM to create an AI chat based augmented with our knowledge base! They all loved it! Now if only I could figure out how to deliver the same experience for our customers..."

— Molly Exten, Survey Respondent

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Professional Development Constraints

Most technical documentation professionals face budget limitations for professional development:

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• 73% have no dedicated budget for training

• 13% have under $500/year

• Only 14% have $1000+/year for professional development

 

What Would Help You Most?

When asked about what would help them most in their roles, respondents prioritized:

 

1. AI automation techniques (79%)

2. Measurement and ROI proof (64%)

3. Strategies for difficult stakeholders (50%)

4. Practical templates (43%)

5. Career advancement insights (36%)

Success Stories

We asked participants about their recent documentation wins:

"Researched, met with, had input on, and negotiated pricing on a new documentation platform that we will be putting live on June 1!"

"We were able to use Claude to create a content map to guide in reorganizing our documentation."

"Getting included in Sprint planning"

"Translated and reworked 20+ alert messages that originally were hard-coded in the wrong language with the help of developers."

"Using AI to transform information to present it from various points of view."

"An SME gave me all the information I needed at the first sprint meeting!"

Messages to Leadership

Respondents shared what they wish leadership understood about documentation:

 

"Documentation is not an afterthought - it's an essential part of the product."

"Bad documentation is like getting up to speak wearing no pants."

"Please include us from every step - starting with design. It's vitally important for us to understand the features from the very beginning."

"We need better tools to stay up to date with documentation."

"Let's commit to the documentation standards that we define for once."

"Stressing the importance of documentation (which often gets overlooked) so they'll be more buy in, investment, and support for technical documentation across the entire organization."

"Technical documentation is a key enabler of helping your customers adopt and successfully use your software (or product)."

Before/After Documentation Example

Our research shows a clear difference between feature-oriented and task-oriented documentation approaches:

 

The task-oriented approach (right) focuses on what users are trying to accomplish, uses clear steps with code examples, and provides next steps for users to follow.

The 20-Minute SME Interview Framework

Based on the survey data, we've developed a structured approach to make SME collaboration more efficient:

 

This framework helps technical writers get the information they need in just 20 minutes, reducing the 2+ hours per week that 85% of writers currently spend chasing SMEs.

Implications & Next Steps

This survey highlights several consistent challenges in the technical documentation field:

1. Structured SME collaboration approaches are urgently needed

2. Measurement frameworks must be established to demonstrate documentation value

3. AI integration shows tremendous promise for enhancing productivity

4. Resource constraints make efficient methodologies particularly valuable

Master the Core Model for Technical Documentation

Join our upcoming workshop to learn how to address the key challenges identified in this survey.

The Core Model provides a structured framework for both SME collaboration and strategic documentation planning, requiring minimal additional resources while delivering measurable improvements.

Workshop: Core Model for Technical Communicators
Date: June 16th, 2025
Time: 19:00 CEST / 10:00 PT / 13:00 ET
Limited to: 12 participants (only 10 spots remaining)
Special offer: Use code TECHWRITERS for $100 off (just $299)

What you'll learn:

• The complete 20-minute SME Interview Framework

• How to prioritize documentation based on user needs and business goals

• Practical templates for documentation planning and execution

• Strategies for measuring documentation effectiveness

• AI integration techniques for technical documentation

Register Now →

Can't make the live workshop? Get the recording for just $147.

Thank you to all survey participants for sharing your experiences and insights. This information helps us all understand the current state of technical documentation and identify opportunities for improvement.

Survey conducted by Are Halland in conjunction with the "Core Model for Technical Documentation" webinar with Scott Abel, May-June 2025.