All Posts

Creating effective community doc events (a case study)

The Salt project’s recent documentation jam was a huge success in terms of participation, productivity, diversity, and positive buzz. But why? In this blog entry, I break down the many elements that led to such a successful event.

Mar 15, 2021 - 13 min read

The life-changing magic of a tidy kanban board

I’ve gone from actively hating our documentation issue backlog to feeling proud of our issue triage process. In this post, I share key insights and best practices that I’ve learned about issue triage.

Dec 29, 2020 - 15 min read

Getting started in open source as a new tech writer

Contributing to open source projects gives you valuable work experience and helps you build your professional network. Read my advice about using open source to land your first technical writing job.

Dec 13, 2020 - 10 min read

Attracting active contributors to open source (a case study)

Read my advice for attracting more active contributors to open source using lessons learned from the Good Docs Project.

Dec 6, 2020 - 8 min read

Tips for fighting impostor syndrome

It’s common for people to experience impostor syndrome while working in tech. In my latest blog entry, I discuss how I personally use CBT techniques to redirect negative patterns of self-talk into healthier directions.

Nov 22, 2020 - 6 min read

Documentation can help close sales (a case study)

While it can’t really make up for a poor product UX design, good documentation can help tell a story for prospective customers about how easy the product is to use.

Nov 20, 2020 - 3 min read

Why do I sometimes forget how awesome usability testing is?

Why do I sometimes neglect docs usability testing? Join me as I examine my personal barriers to testing and renew my commitment it.

Nov 10, 2020 - 7 min read

Hi, I'm Alyssa

Welcome to my new portfolio site and blog! It’s been nearly a decade since I last kept a blog and I’m excited to keep one again. This is going to be a professional blog that I’ll use to record thoughts I have related to technical writing, with a focus on documentation in open source projects.

Nov 8, 2020 - 1 min read