Three hours were spent debugging an API integration that should have taken fifteen minutes. The documentation promised a simple setup—five steps to a working connection. Yet another developer sits at their desk, terminal full of error messages, Slack channels pinging with questions, deadline slipping away.
"Whoever wrote this has never used it," they message their team lead.
They're right. The technical writer who created the guide had expertly structured every sentence, included every parameter, and missed the one detail developers actually needed: how the API handled nested objects in production environments.
This scene repeats daily across tech companies. Stack Overflow's 2023 Developer Survey found developers waste nearly a quarter of their coding time deciphering documentation, with 63% of all respondents spending more than 30 minutes a day searching for answers or solutions to problems.
Not because the writing is poor, but because the writers have never written code.
The industry calls them unicorns—developers who can write, or writers who can code. If you're picturing a mythical beast that's equally comfortable with semicolons and Oxford commas, you're not far off.
...developers waste nearly a quarter of their coding time deciphering documentation.
Most developers can explain complex algorithms to computers but freeze when asked to explain them to humans. Ask them about their weekend and they'll respond with a binary "good" or "bad." Ask them about their code, and suddenly you're trapped in a 45-minute monologue about optimization techniques that somehow invokes their favorite anime.
Meanwhile, traditional technical writers craft beautiful prose about features they've never used, like food critics describing meals they've only seen in pictures. The result? Documentation that reads like poetry but helps like a chocolate teapot.
MongoDB faced this exact problem. Their documentation was comprehensive but fundamentally flawed, with support issues piling up. Developer forums filled with workarounds. The documentation team kept polishing sentences while developers kept muttering darkly, "just reading the source code."
Then MongoDB tried something different. They started hiring developers who could write instead of writers who could learn tech. These unicorn technical writers bring their battle scars to documentation. They know which edge cases can break things, which examples can actually help, and which details matter in production. Most importantly, they can translate developer grunts into actual English.
These advancements reduced the time for new users to get started and helped existing users resolve issues more efficiently, as evidenced by MongoDB's continued investment in intelligent developer tools. Developers even started linking directly to the enriched documentation in forums, replacing the old "RTFM" refrain with meaningful guidance, signaling a shift toward a more collaborative developer community.
They started hiring developers who could write instead of writers who could learn tech.
At GitHub, technical writers split their time between coding and documenting. They debug the same errors they document. They use the tools they describe. When a developer reports a documentation gap, these writers understand the problem firsthand—and can translate the developer's frustrated emoji strings into actionable solutions.
GitHub has improved the functionality of its docs by implementing docs-as-code practices. Consider a scenario where a writer-developer is implementing automated testing for API documentation. By building against the API rather than just documenting it, they will likely discover edge cases and gotchas that wouldn't be apparent from reviewing specifications alone. This hands-on development work helps ensure documentation reflects real-world usage patterns.
Companies succeeding with documentation share a common thread: they've found the rare beings who can speak both human and machine. Their unicorn writers commit code. Their developers review docs. The wall between building and explaining disappears, replaced by people who can actually hold a conversation about both.
This approach can cost more. Developer-writers command higher salaries than typical technical writers. They may take longer to document features because they test everything they write. But they will save more than they cost by catching issues early, reducing support loads, and preventing the kind of documentation that makes developers want to change careers.
The best technical writers aren't just writers who understand tech. They're developers who remember what it feels like to stare at broken code and wish someone had warned them about the gotchas. These unicorns might be rare, but they're worth the hunt. Just don't expect them to make eye contact during the job interview.
At DevDocs, we specialize in connecting you with developer-writers fluent in code, tools, and user needs. These unicorns don’t just document—they transform your documentation into a competitive edge. With our team-based approach, you get expertise, reliability, and results that elevate your product and your brand. Ready to discover your unicorn? Contact us today.
.svg)
.svg)
.png)
