Start with evidence, not a page inventory. Choose one important reader journey—such as first-time setup, an API integration, or an administrator workflow—and trace it across the product, documentation, search, support, and release process. Record examples and owners as you go.
1. Ownership and maintenance
Every important product area should have a named documentation owner and a review trigger. Ask who updates the content when the product changes, how that person learns about the change, and when the page was last tested.
- List the owner and subject-matter reviewer for each critical journey.
- Check whether review is time-based, release-based, or triggered by feedback.
- Flag pages with no owner, unclear status, or outdated screenshots and examples.
2. Discovery and navigation
Test whether readers can find the correct page using their own language. Review internal search queries, Google Search Console queries, navigation labels, cross-links, and support questions. A page that exists but cannot be found is an operational failure.
- Run five representative searches from a new reader’s perspective.
- Check for zero-result searches and competing pages that answer the same question.
- Verify that overview pages lead to tasks, references, and troubleshooting.
3. Technical accuracy
Validate instructions against the current product. Execute commands, test code samples, verify permissions, and confirm prerequisites. Give extra attention to authentication, billing, migration, destructive actions, and error recovery.
- Test the happy path in a clean environment.
- Confirm versions, defaults, UI labels, and API responses.
- Record the product version and date used during validation.
4. Launch alignment
Documentation should be part of the release definition of done. Review recent launches and compare the release note, affected guides, API reference, migration steps, and support enablement. Look for changes that shipped before the documentation or left old behavior described elsewhere.
5. Feedback and improvement
Healthy documentation has a visible feedback loop. Combine page feedback, search behavior, support tickets, community questions, and product analytics. Every signal should have an owner, a review cadence, and a route into a prioritized backlog.
Turn findings into a 30-day plan
- Fix unsafe or blocking inaccuracies immediately.
- Repair the highest-volume dead ends and unclear entry pages.
- Assign owners and review triggers to critical journeys.
- Create a small measurement baseline before making broader changes.
- Schedule a follow-up review to confirm that fixes changed reader behavior.