How to keep your product documentation up to date
Last updated: August 2024
An internal product knowledge base is more than just a repository of information. It is where your team finds urgent answers, best practices, and insights that help build exceptional products. At least, it should be. But not if your documents are crusty and outdated.
"Keep your information updated and accurate" is advice you have likely heard countless times in articles about product documentation. Although this sounds straightforward enough, the reality is often more complex.
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Here are a few reasons product builders might neglect doc updates despite knowing their importance:
Information quickly becomes outdated. And before you know it, updates snowball into a daunting task.
There is always a new feature or product insight to document, and that often takes priority over general upkeep.
Different types of updates vary in scope: Some are minor, some are major, some are process-related, and some are product-based. Some updates might only impact one team, whereas others affect the entire organization. It is hard to know what is urgent and what can wait.
Balancing strategically impactful updates against smaller accuracy checks is tough. But all those small updates add up and define the credibility of your internal knowledge base. As a product builder, it is your responsibility to juggle these updates alongside your regular work.
Struggling to keep your product documentation current? This guide offers practical tips on setting up your knowledge base for success and making sure docs stay fresh. We grouped the tips into categories, so you can jump ahead to the sections that matter most to you.
25 essential tips for product managers on keeping documentation up to date
We understand how important it is to keep your internal product documentation sharp. These 25 tips come straight from our playbook at Aha! — they help us stay clear and consistent across all our product work. Adding just a couple of these suggestions to your team's workflow can help ensure that your knowledge base remains a reliable resource for the organization.
Confirm the foundation is strong
Even if your knowledge base is established, double-check that is it organized enough for easy updates. Making a few tweaks now can streamline the update process and set your team up for lasting improvements.
Use folder and document hierarchies that make sense for your team and customers.
Agree on naming conventions for document titles and use consistent tags to categorize documents. This makes them easier to find later on.
Set up templates and style guidelines to ensure consistency across the knowledge base. Things are easier to update when the format is the same across sections.
Add custom fields to product documents to capture and report on metadata such as categories, teams, status, and more.
Try our knowledge base template to get a quick start. It includes sections for a summary, steps, permissions, FAQs, and space for visuals such as screenshots or videos.
Assign ownership
Just because someone creates a document does not mean they are the one who will always update it. For cross-functional docs like release notes, different teams might take responsibility for keeping their sections current. This is especially true in smaller companies or startups, where multiple people might be involved in updating a shared product document.
No matter your organization's size, it is important to clearly assign ownership to ensure regular updates.
Designate a team member (or a small group) to take responsibility for the knowledge base. This does not mean they do all the updates, but they should ensure accountability for its overall health.
Assign sections of the knowledge base to team members based on expertise. For example, engineers can update technical docs, support might handle troubleshooting guides, and product managers could maintain feature roadmaps.
Control who can modify and view product information to prevent unauthorized changes. Assign editing permissions based on roles to define who can update documents (vs. who has view-only access).
Align on priorities
Not every update needs to happen right away. It is important to weigh the opportunity cost — considering the strategic value, impact, and scope of each update. By prioritizing wisely, you can focus on what really matters and avoid spreading your team too thin.
Prioritize key pages, and focus on keeping the most critical and frequently used pages up to date. This might include product roadmaps, key feature documentation, and stakeholder mapping.
Use a scorecard to prioritize updates based on factors such as team impact, urgency, and effort. A consistent baseline can help you organize what to work on and when to work on it.
Organize updates into a backlog with custom fields that identify priority levels. This makes it easy to track and manage updates over time.
Set up a prioritization view (with categories like critical, high, medium, and low) with associated workflows for each. This provides a clear structure for tackling updates based on their importance.
Leverage templates to decide on which updates to tackle first, balancing factors such as urgency and value against resources and time available. A 2x2 prioritization matrix is great for this.
A 2x2 prioritization matrix helps you guide prioritization decisions. As decisions are made, you can convert any sticky note into real work items in Aha! software.
Use automation
Take the manual work out of updating product documentation. Automation tools like the ones found in Aha! Knowledge can streamline repetitive tasks, ensuring your knowledge base stays current with minimal effort. This can help free up your team to focus on higher-value work.
Link to live data to keep certain parts of your knowledge base automatically updated. Provide links to active reports, roadmaps, and presentations. That way, your team always has access to the most current information without needing to manually update those sections.
Use AI to make update work lighter. In Aha! Knowledge, take advantage of the built-in AI writing assistant to generate product docs (like release notes), turn long-form content into concise summaries, or proofread drafts — all in the same space where everything is published.
Make easy one-time updates to documents published across multiple knowledge bases. This is possible in Aha! Knowledge Advanced and is particularly useful for organizations with multiple departments or teams that have their own internal knowledge bases.
Create focus time
We know updating product documentation is not always the most exciting thing on your to-do list. But with a little planning (and maybe some snacks), these tips can help make it a more regular — and even gratifying — part of your routine.
Set regular review cycles: Establish a schedule for periodic reviews of knowledge base content to keep information current and accurate. This can be done quarterly or aligned with major product milestones.
Create recurring to-dos at set intervals: Schedule updates for specific documents throughout the year, as needed.
Integrate updates into workflows: Include documentation updates in your sprint planning or project wrap-up tasks so they happen naturally within your regular work processes.
Build backlog time into your weekly schedule: To keep the workload manageable, dedicate regular time each week to chip away at documentation updates. Additionally, block off this time in your calendar to protect your focus.
Crush as many backlog features as you can in a day: Make this fun with a team lunch, catchy event name, and curated playlist. Get a little competitive with team activities that boost focus and productivity. Aim to do this once or twice a year.
Use meeting-heavy days for support rotations: When the brainpower for high-level drafting is low, block off time in your calendar to burn through backlog tasks while a team member handles any immediate distractions.
Build documentation
Oh, the irony — building documentation about how to update product documentation. But having clear guidelines and processes in place can make the entire effort smoother and more consistent. Here are a few tips to consider.
Establish guidelines for how and when to update the knowledge base. This can include templates, formatting standards, and protocols for handling updates.
Bonus tip: Make it a policy never to repeat the same information in different articles. Hyperlink to the relevant article instead so you only have to update one source if and when that information changes.
Encourage team members to request updates when they spot inaccurate information, fostering a culture of shared responsibility.
Bonus tip: Make it easy for anyone to provide feedback through an internal ideas portal.
Communicate changes broadly whenever you update the knowledge base. This keeps everyone informed and reinforces it as a reliable resource.
Archive outdated information instead of deleting it. This maintains a history of decisions and changes that might be useful for future reference.
Keeping your product documentation up to date does not have to feel daunting. Our biggest tip? Publish your knowledge base directly from the workspace where you already manage product information. With Aha! Knowledge, you can integrate your knowledge base with your existing product management tools (like Aha! Roadmaps!). This helps you link documentation to the innovation it supports.
FAQs about internal product knowledge bases
What is an internal product knowledge base?
An internal product knowledge base is a centralized repository where your team documents crucial product information, processes, and decisions. This includes everything from product strategies and roadmaps to feature specs and user stories. By keeping this documentation up to date and accessible, you enable better collaboration, faster decision-making, and a more efficient product development process.
What is the difference between an internal and external product knowledge base?
An internal knowledge base is designed for your team, containing detailed documentation such as technical specs and process guidelines to support product development. An external knowledge base is customer-facing, providing users with information that can help them effectively use your product (such as product guides, FAQs, and troubleshooting tips).
What tools are typically used for creating product documentation?
Aha! Knowledge is an excellent choice for centralizing and crafting all your product documents. You can easily set up internal knowledge hubs and self-service product knowledge bases that integrate notes and diagrams. Capture information in the format that makes sense and streamline your document management process. Take advantage of the AI-powered writing assistant to draft high-quality content quickly, and select from over 100 expertly designed templates — or create your own — to ensure consistency whenever your team captures information.
