You spend three days writing a detailed Product Requirements Document. User stories. Mockups. A full FAQ. You post it in Slack, tag the team, and wait.
Nothing.
A week later, a developer pings you: “What’s this feature supposed to do again?”
You send the link. They skim. You sigh. And the cycle continues.
You write these docs to align teams. To save time. To avoid confusion. But instead, they collect dust in Confluence while the same questions pop up in Slack.
It’s frustrating. It wastes effort. It slows everyone down.
So what’s going wrong? And how do we fix it?
This article breaks it down:
- Why documentation gets ignored
- How PMs can write docs people will actually read
- When to skip writing and choose a better format
By the end, you’ll have a set of practical tools. Clear, useful, and worth the time.
Why People Don’t Read Documentation
It’s not laziness.
If your carefully written doc vanishes into a black hole, you’re not imagining it. Most documentation is ignored because it’s set up to fail.
The Documentation Death Spiral
Here’s what usually happens: a simple two-pager grows into ten. Every stakeholder request adds another section. Every “just in case” scenario gets a paragraph.
Important details sink. The signal gets lost in noise.
This isn’t theory. The Nielsen Norman Group found that users read less than 30 percent of the content on a page. Internal documentation is no exception.
So the outcome is predictable. People open the doc. Scroll. Skim. Close. It stops being a working tool. It becomes a reference no one references.
One product manager put it simply:
“I spent three weeks writing a comprehensive PRD no one read. A one-pager and a few real conversations would’ve done more.”
Not Written for the Right Audience
Another reason docs fail is lack of focus. One document tries to serve engineers, executives, and designers. It ends up meeting none of their needs.
Engineers want technical specs and edge cases. Executives care about impact and decisions. Designers need flows and constraints. When they’re forced to sift through irrelevant sections, they check out.
If a reader doesn’t see value in the first few seconds, the document is written off. Even the useful parts get ignored later.
The Out-of-Sight Problem
Visibility is also a problem. Teams work in Slack and Jira. Docs live in Confluence or Notion. That gap means people forget they exist.
Most documentation tools don’t send alerts or reminders. Without prompts, even important updates are missed.
Slab’s 2023 survey found that over half of employees struggle to find information they know exists. The issue isn’t effort. It’s access.
The “Living Document” Lie
Teams describe their docs as “living,” but the reality rarely lives up to the label. Updates happen sporadically. Content drifts out of date. Trust erodes.
One outdated detail is enough to raise doubt across the entire document. If one part is wrong, people question the rest.
The real issue is ownership. When no one is clearly responsible for a section, it gets neglected. Priorities move on but the document doesn’t.
Why Read When You Can Ask?
Speed is part of the problem. People want answers fast. Slack feels easier than searching through docs. And when someone replies with the answer instead of linking to the source, that becomes the norm.
It’s convenient in the moment. But it slowly erodes the value of the documentation.
Most teams don’t build the habit of redirecting. Even simple questions get answered directly. Rarely does anyone say, “It’s in the doc.” Especially if the question comes from someone senior.
How to Write Documentation People Actually Read
You don’t need a full reset to fix bad documentation habits. You just need better tactics. These are practical methods used by PMs who’ve made their docs worth reading.
If your document can’t be understood in under 30 seconds, it’s not working. Start by front-loading the key details. Use a TL;DR to answer three key questions right away: what you’re building, why it matters, and when it’s due.
Example:
[TL;DR]
What: One-click upsell for checkout
Why: 23% drop-off during cross-sell prompts
When: March 15 (Back-to-School campaign)Next, format the docs like crazy! Bold important phrases. Use bullet points instead of long sentences. Add headers every two or three sections to break things up and guide the eye.
Avoid long paragraphs. Anything over three lines risks being skipped. Keep it short and readable. One PM shared a simple but effective trick on reddit:
“I swapped paragraphs for tables. Instead of describing flows, I show: Step | Action | API Call. Engineers actually use it.”
Here’s an example:
| Step | Action | API Call | Error Handling |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. User clicks “Subscribe” | Validate email format | N/A | Show “Invalid email” toast |
| 2. Email valid | Check existing subscription | GET /check-subscription | Log error, retry twice |
| 3. No subscription found | Create subscription | POST /create-subscription | Show payment failure modal |
Tailor Content to the Audience (Think Like a Menu)
A single document can’t serve executives, engineers, and designers equally. Each group has different needs.
Structure your docs like a menu. Give each audience what they need, and only what they need.
- Executives: One page focused on business impact, risks, and key targets.
- Engineers: Technical specs placed in an appendix—not in the main flow.
- Designers: Direct links to Figma files. Skip the abstract UX theory.
Add signposts to guide readers to the right section:
[Designers] → Go to Section 3: Mockups
[Engineers] → See Appendix A: API EndpointsUse links instead of embedding everything. Point to Jira tickets, Figma designs, and supporting docs. Keep the content clean, and let readers dive deeper only when needed.
Make It Discoverable and Useful
If a document sits in a folder no one opens, it might as well not exist. Visibility drives usage. Even great docs fail if no one knows where to find them.
Start with simple habits. Pin key documents in the Slack or Teams channels where people already work. Use clear labels and a quick summary:
[LIVE] Checkout V2 PRD | Last Updated: June 5
Key changes:
• New one-click upsell flow (see Section 3)
• Error handling updates (Appendix A) This puts documentation into the daily flow instead of expecting people to go digging.
Next, make docs easier to search. Tools like Notion AI or Guru let teams ask natural questions like “What’s the SLA for Feature X?” and get answers directly from documentation. It’s faster than rummaging through folders or links.
Basic hygiene also helps. Use clear, descriptive titles :
PRD_Checkout_Upsell_March2024 Not
Draft_v12_FINALBuild Engagement into the Process
When you update a doc, tag the right people. Don’t be quiet about it. Engagement follows visibility.
Passive sharing leads to passive silence. If you want people to use the documentation, you need to make it part of how the team works.
Start with a clear rule: “No feedback, no meeting.” Ask for comments before the meeting happens. This sets expectations and ensures everyone comes prepared.
Use visible approval tracking. Add a simple checklist at the top of important docs:
[✓] Dev Lead – Reviewed API specs (14 Mar)
[ ] Legal – PendingThis creates social accountability. Everyone can see who’s reviewed the document and what’s still missing.
Reinforce good habits publicly. When someone uses the doc well, call it out:
“Shoutout to @Dev for fixing the bug by checking the PRD first.”
It turns documentation into a valued team behaviour.
Use Video When It Works Better Than Text
Not every update needs a document. Sometimes people just need to hear or see the change.
Audio summaries are useful for teams on the move. A quick voice note or podcast-style update helps people stay informed without needing to stop and read. It’s a simple way to share context that sticks.
Loom videos work well for visual updates. A short screen recording can show interface changes or feature improvements in two minutes. No guessing. No long explanations. Just the product in action.
Live office hours give people space to ask questions. A short weekly Q&A makes it easy to clear up confusion and keep everyone on the same page. Even ten minutes can make a difference.
These formats work because they match how people learn. Most people retain more from video or audio than text.
Know When to Skip the Doc
Too much documentation creates noise. Not everything needs to be written down.
If a question keeps coming up and affects multiple people, document it properly. Those are the topics worth investing in.
If it’s a one-off decision without a huge impact, a quick Slack thread and a short summary later is enough. No need to over-document.
If the work is still evolving, skip the doc and talk it out. Use whiteboards or working sessions. Writing too early creates false certainty and locks in ideas that aren’t ready.
Documentation is a tool, not a requirement. Use it when it helps people do their job. Skip it when it adds clutter.
Final Take: Documentation Actually Work
Most product docs fail before anyone opens them. They’re written to tick a box, not to help. The result is long, cluttered pages no one reads, links no one can find, and content that misses what people actually need.
The problem isn’t volume. It’s clarity, access, and relevance.
- Clarity: If it’s hard to scan, it won’t be read.
- Access: If it’s buried, it won’t be found.
- Relevance: If it’s generic, it won’t be used.
More documentation won’t solve that. Better structure and content will.
Quick Practice
Pick one doc you manage—a PRD, roadmap, or even meeting notes.
- Cut 30% of the content. Strip out anything that adds no value.
- Reformat what’s left. Use bullets, bold text, and tables to make it skimmable.
- Then test it. Share it and track engagement—views, comments, usage.
See what lands. Adjust. Repeat.
The goal isn’t to make your docs perfect. It’s to make them useful.
That’s the difference your team will notice.
PRD Guideline:
| Section | Purpose | Max Length | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Title & Owner | Basic metadata | 1–2 lines | Avoids “Who owns this?” questions |
| 2. TL;DR | Key takeaways for execs | 3–5 bullets | Saves time for non-technical readers |
| 3. Problem | Why this exists | 100–200 words | Aligns teams on “why we’re doing this” |
| 4. Success Metrics | How we’ll measure impact | 3–5 KPIs | Prevents feature vanity |
| 5. User Stories | Who needs it and how they’ll use it | 5–10 bullets | Keeps focus on real needs |
| 6. Requirement Spec | What we’re building (tech + non-tech) | Tables over paragraphs | Engineers scan this first |
| 7. Risks | Known unknowns | 3–5 items | Proactive problem-solving |
| 8. Open Questions | Unresolved debates | 5–10 bullets | Transparency speeds up decisions |
| 9. Timeline | Key milestones | 1 table | Sets realistic expectations |
