Ship docs with the feature: a definition of done

The most common documentation strategy is "we'll write it after launch." It fails predictably: the launch happens, priorities shift and the docs never arrive.

Why after is too late#

By the time a feature ships, the engineer has moved on and the context is gone. Writing docs later means re-learning the feature from scratch, so it costs several times more, if it happens at all.

Add docs to the definition of done#

A ticket is finished when:

• User-facing docs are updated in the same pull request
• API changes are reflected in the OpenAPI spec
• A changelog entry is written
• The docs preview has been reviewed

Because CI checks these, nobody has to remember them.

Make it easy#

Friction is why docs get skipped. Reduce it:

• Provide page templates for tutorials and how-tos
• Keep docs in the same repo as the code
• Give every PR a preview link
• Let a writer pair with the engineer for the first draft

Start with one team#

Pick one product squad and run the process for a month. Track how often docs landed with the feature, then use those results to bring the next team on board.