The documentation is an essential component in quality assurance (QA) processes within software development, and generally in any product or service development. Its importance lies in its ability to structure, organize, and preserve the knowledge generated throughout all stages of the project, from initial planning to final product maintenance.

Have you ever joined an ongoing project and found the onboarding process overly complex? Not knowing where to start or how to take those first steps. While the beginning is always a challenge, documentation proves invaluable not only at that moment, but throughout the project lifecycle, especially when multiple changes arise and it becomes unclear what the single source of truth is.

Benefits of documentation in QA

As we’ve hinted, some of the main advantages and strengths of maintaining up-to-date and well-organized documentation include:

For the QA discipline specifically, good documentation delivers specific benefits:

What are the challenges?

As with most things in life, maintaining documentation brings certain challenges depending on team dynamics:

Ultimately, documentation can be a great ally, not just for QA, but for the whole team. But in the wrong circumstances, teams may abandon it due to the burden outweighing its benefits.

Types of documentation

Focusing on a QA-centric scope, anything can be a source of useful documentation:

Documentation and agility

Agile methodologies have transformed both the approach and workflow, pushing documentation toward efficiency. In agile environments, value matters more than documentation volume:

For more, check out the Scrum guide and of course, the Agile Manifesto.

The purpose behind each document

Before drafting any documentation, remember: its success or failure depends on purpose. A non-technical reader won’t benefit from a doc full of acronyms and jargon—consider simplifying, rephrasing, or adding a glossary.

So before you write, ask yourself:

Developers, testers, stakeholders, end users? Like how we change language depending on who we talk to (banker, friend, stranger), documentation must adapt to its reader.

“TMI” means “Too Much Information.” Be sure to filter and tailor content accordingly.

If you must use technical terms, explain them or include a glossary.

Use short sentences. Instead of “it’s important to consider that…”, say “remember that…”.

Use precise terms to avoid misinterpretations.

In summary, documentation is crucial to QA and can significantly improve both quality and efficiency across the team. Has documentation helped or hindered you recently? Let us know in the comments.

References

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