About
Hi! I'm Deborah, a technical writer from the UK. I'm passionate about helping users achieve their goals.
- Learn more about my consultancy offerings
- Take a look at some of my guides
- Check out my blog
- Download my CV (PDF).
Experience
From 2022-2024 I was sole technical writer and documentation owner at n8n. Before that, I provided software documentation consultancy, encompassing every stage of the documentation process: from tooling to project management to producing and maintaining the docs. I've featured some of my larger pieces of work here.
n8n
From February 2022 to July 2024 I owned the documentation for n8n, a low-code automation platform. I was responsible for all aspects of the docs. You can view the docs GitHub repo here.
Some highlights:
- Designed, proposed, and implemented new tooling and information architecture. Delivered an improved authoring experience, lower-maintenance tooling, more performant and comprehensive search, and a more browsable information architecture.
- Project managed the docs, including: setting quarterly goals, implementing analytics and using them to prioritise projects, defining collaboration and contribution processes across teams.
- Overhauled existing content and filled gaps: ensured up-to-date and complete information, in a consistent and clear style to improve readability. This included creating new code tutorials, and overhauling existing code samples.
- Provided documentation for new features, with documentation ready at release. This helped marketing as they prepared for launches, as well as ensuring support for users.
- Managed contractors and assisted with interviewing candidates
API documentation for KnowledgeOwl
My single largest project in 2021 was overhauling KnowledgeOwl's API documentation. KnowledgeOwl is a knowledge base SaaS company. The API docs had not been touched in years, and were incomplete (most of the endpoints were not documented at all, and the ones that were didn't have a complete parameter list). The project involved everything from researching tooling, to creating the OpenAPI spec, to overhauling existing docs and writing new tutorials.
Value
This project was hugely satisfying to work on. It delivered value in multiple ways:
- Better documentation for KnowledgeOwl's users: for the first time, there is a comprehensive endpoint reference for API users! There are also introductory materials, and guidance for users new to APIs.
- Better documentation for KnowledgeOwl staff: The full API reference assists support, pro services, and new developers.
- An audit of the API: in the process of creating the spec file, I logged any quirks I found. Some of these have already led to bug fixes.
- Support for REST API documentation in KnowledgeOwl: using Redocly's standalone open source tool, we were able to autogenerate documentation from an OpenAPI spec file and display it within KnowledgeOwl, without any developer effort. We can now offer this to KnowledgeOwl's users
- Groundwork for future projects: this is a docs project, but, crucially, it really started with an OpenAPI spec file. This lays the groundwork for future projects such as test automation.
Stages
The project comprised two distinct phases:
- Research, including tooling decisions
- Endpoint reference, supporting material, support for users creating their own REST API docs
Phase 1: Research
Two factors triggered this project: awareness that KnowledgeOwl's API docs needed work, and a desire to support API documentation in KnowledgeOwl.
I proposed using Redocly's free open source offering, Redoc. It allows users to generate documentation from their OpenAPI spec, without the need for any build process or additional dependencies. All we had to do was add the <redoc> custom element, and pull in the Redoc script file. This approach has several benefits:
- Free!
- Simple to implement: no need for a user to install anything or do any build process.
- No need for developer resources: it allows us to offer REST API docs support to our users, without our developers having to build new functionality.
There are a couple of drawbacks:
- Loading screen: for large spec files, you end up with a loading screen, as the page is generated on load.
- Customization: although it should be possible to do some limited style customization through settings on the
<redoc>custom element, this seems a little hit and miss. We ended up digging through the CSS and overriding where necessary. This may not be the most elegant solution - though, again, it is accessible to users with limited programming experience.
Despite the drawbacks, the ability to quickly set up good-looking endpoint reference docs from a spec file, without requiring users to have much technical knowledge, meant this approach is great for KnowledgeOwl.
Phase 2: Endpoint reference, other docs, support for users creating their own REST API docs
The deliverables in this phase were:
- OpenAPI spec file. I wrote this in JSON format, in Postman.
- Introductory material. This was largely existing material, edited and refactored to bring it in line with the current knowledge base style, and supplemented with additional info at points.
- A brand new endpoint reference, aimed at developers, using Redoc and the spec file.
- A new tutorial on working with APIs, aimed at users with little or no API knowledge.
- A guide describing how to create REST API docs in KnowledgeOwl, so KnowledgeOwl's users can create their own endpoint reference.
- Internal-only material: some endpoints are for internal use only. I produced a separate spec file for this, and shared it using Redoc in the company internal knowledge base. I also created guidance on working with the new docs setup.
- A blog post to announce the new docs.
Blog articles for KnowledgeOwl
I have contributed several articles to KnowledgeOwl's blog. KnowledgeOwl is a knowledge base SaaS company.
Articles
Automation and integration with Zapier and KnowledgeOwl and the Zapier guide - an article and guide providing support to users who want to integrate KnowledgeOwl with other applications via Zapier.
Write the Docs Prague 2020: Another successful virtual edition - write-up of Write the Docs Prague 2020.
Visioning and Servant leadership - a pair of articles that came out of attending a ZingTrain day.
Survival tips for virtual events - inspired by the massive growth in virtual conferences, training, and meetups in 2020.
Style guides: what, why and how - an introduction to the use of style guides in documentation.
After tech writing: where do you go if you want to move on? - a quick look at possible next career steps for tech writers.
Docs as Code: An introduction for beginners - a brief introduction to docs like code.
Visit by GES
Note
Since I worked on this project, there has been a redesign (possibly including migrating to new tooling), and additional assets created. Much of the written content is still my work (as of 25 October 2021).
Visit by GES provide software for event registration, event intelligence and lead management. They're focused on large, in-person events, both business-to-business and business-to-customer.
I worked for them from November 2019 to August 2020. In that time I completely overhauled their end user documentation, introduced new docs formats, and simplified their docs setup and processes.
Over the course of nine months I:
- Managed the docs tooling, especially the new project setup in MadCap Flare. This included decisions around how to handle style re-use, and how to make the docs easier for other people to work on.
- Wrote all-new webhelps for their three web applications: Visit, Visit Connect and Visit Account. This accompanied the release of Visit 4, and provided both fresh content and fresh branding.
- Worked on context sensitive help for Visit, using MadCap Flare.
- Consulted on ways to improve usability and onboarding experiences. This included invesitigating a possible new product direction (a self-service option), and submitting a proposal for a certification course.
- Provided input on UI copy.
- Overhauled the internal Confluence docs space, ensuring working instructions were up-to-date.
- Advocated for accessibility.
My manager at Visit kindly provided a testimonial.
Education and training
My education and training background provides a broad skillset: undergraduate and masters degrees in English Literature, a masters conversion course in Computer Science, and more recently, the Marketing Week Mini-MBA in Marketing.
| Institution | Course | Year completed | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing Week | Mini-MBA in Marketing | 2024 | A |
| University of Leeds | MA in English Literature | 2020 | Distinction |
| University of Kent | MSc in Computer Science | 2013 | Merit |
| University of Edinburgh | MA (undergrad) in English Literature | 2008 | First |
Testimonials
Additional testimonials are available on LinkedIn
CodeSee
"The CodeSee team contracted with Deborah to help do an audit and rewrite of some key documentation for our early stage developer tooling. She was incredibly knowledgeable, helping us through the process of shaping the scope of the documentation work needing to be done. She helped with some of the management of the technical processes in our documentation repo as well as handling the testing, documentation and editing of business critical products. We'll joyously work with her again if she becomes available and I strongly recommend anyone thinking of working with Deborah to do so!" - Jessica Rose, CodeSee
Gregarious Mammal
"When I worked with Deborah, I found her thorough, and focussed, often noticing details with a projects I might have missed myself. She was always patient, considered, and balanced with her opinions, and struck a good balance between getting things done, and getting things done well" - Chris Ward, Gregarious Mammal
Visit by GES
"Deborah joined our company six months ago as a Technical Writer, in a freelance capacity. After two weeks of working together we decided we want her as part of the team. She has proven to be hard working, reliable and extremely efficient.
I have never seen anyone deliver as much as she does, in a perfect manner. Everything she does, she does it very well. Our User Guide, which we built over the years as the software grew, had to be completely rewritten as a result of us changing technologies. With Deborah writing it, it saw the light of day in less than three months. Although the documentation tool we have available is not easy, she needed no training, no handholding (she actually masters a lot of platforms dedicated to documentation, design). She simply got it done. We now have an up to date, modern looking user guide, which anyone can easily navigate their way through.
Apart from her technical and writing skills, Deborah has been asked to get involved in drafting a DIY product. Although I expected Deborah to be thorough and detailed as she generally is, my expectations were exceeded. Not only did she describe the project in such a way that our management team got the full grasp of all that it entailed, but she brought to the table elements that changed our perspective over the entire project. Excellent work!
I highly recommend Deborah to anyone looking for a Technical Writer, Project or Product Coordinator. I have no doubt that anyone looking to hire Deborah will feel similarly towards her impact on the business." - Cristina Achim, Visit by GES
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