Glossary

Actions

Appraise Discern

Discern the main qualities of the product and, if applicable, compare it to others. Users of documentation are also potential customers or adopters. A reader must be able to discern the main qualities of the product and compare it to others. This is a discovery process.

Understand Learn

Grasp the abstractions and mental models the product is built around. Software products are built around abstractions that are difficult to grasp yet fundamental to proper usage. Conceptual documentation anchors learnings alongside exploration and practice.

Explore Discover

Try the product and discover what it can do with a low barrier to entry. Great products invite users to interact and try new things. Documentation should provide hints, instructions, and affordances that facilitate exploration as one of the first activities.

Practice Train

Learn how to operate the product in daily, standard operation. Users need to learn how to operate most parts of a product. Practice describes the need for procedural knowledge — how to use the product in daily, standard operation.

Remember Recall

Recall bits of information that could not be memorized, from parameters to error codes. Reference keeps documentation alive after years of use. Users browse manuals to remember, recall, retrieve, or look up bits of information they could not memorize.

Develop Integrate

Build upon, extend, or integrate with the product to create additional value. Users often need to build upon, extend, or integrate with existing products — through integrations, extensions, plugins, or entirely new applications. The focus is almost always pragmatic.

Troubleshoot Solve

Diagnose and resolve issues efficiently, often under pressure. Stumbling on problems — misconfigurations, edge cases, or actual bugs — is a common user trope. Troubleshooting represents the need to diagnose and resolve issues efficiently, often under pressure when systems are failing or deadlines loom.