Internal product documentation, such as UI mockups in Figma or reference docs, serves as a map to guide teams through a product’s design, features, and workflows. However, like all maps, it is a simplified and sometimes outdated representation of reality. This distinction is crucial for teams relying on documentation for decision-making. - **Documentation as an Abstraction**: No documentation fully encapsulates the entire complexity of a product. It highlights essential structures while often failing to keep pace with real-time changes. - **Gaps Between Documentation and Reality**: Teams frequently encounter discrepancies between design documents and the actual product, especially when updates or iterations are not immediately reflected. - **Iterative Improvement**: Just as maps need updates to remain accurate, documentation must be continuously refined based on product evolution and team feedback. - - **Balancing Detail and Usability**: Overloading documentation with excessive detail can make it bulky, while too much abstraction can lead to misunderstandings and misalignment. - **Balancing Documentation with Implementation**: Documentation is important but it should never be prioritized over what brings impact: Doing the work and launching it: ![[Agile Manifesto#^2dfe0a]] ## The Other Side: When Documentation is Insufficient - **Navigation Becomes Slower**: Without adequate documentation, understanding and implementing changes take significantly longer as team members must rely on direct communication or trial and error. - **Knowledge Silos**: Key insights and rationale behind decisions may be lost if they are not properly documented, leading to inefficiencies when onboarding new team members or revisiting past work. - **Inconsistent Implementations**: Without clear documentation, different team members may interpret requirements differently, causing misalignment in the final product. - **Increased Cognitive Load**: Teams must hold more contextual information in their heads, leading to a higher risk of errors and delays.