How do you document and review software lessons learned, feedback, and improvement suggestions?

1 Identify the sources

The first step is to identify the sources of your lessons learned, feedback, and improvement suggestions. These can come from various stakeholders, such as users, developers, testers, managers, clients, or reviewers. Depending on the type and scope of your documentation project, you may use different methods to collect and record these inputs, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, usability tests, reviews, bug reports, analytics, or comments. You should also define the criteria and metrics that you will use to evaluate and prioritize these inputs, such as relevance, urgency, feasibility, impact, or cost.

2 Organize the data

The next step is to organize the data that you have collected from your sources. You should categorize and label your lessons learned, feedback, and improvement suggestions according to their type, topic, source, status, or action. For example, you may use tags like documentation design, content accuracy, user experience, technical issue, bug fix, feature request, or best practice. You should also use a consistent format and structure to document and store your data, such as spreadsheets, databases, wikis, or issue trackers. This will help you to manage and access your data more easily and efficiently.

4 Implement the changes

The fourth step is to implement the changes that you have decided based on your analysis results. You should update your documentation according to the lessons learned, feedback, and improvement suggestions that you have received and prioritized. You should also document the changes that you have made, the reasons behind them, and the expected outcomes and benefits. You should also test and review your updated documentation to ensure that it meets your documentation goals, standards, and requirements, as well as the needs and expectations of your stakeholders.

6 Evaluate the impact

The final step is to evaluate the impact of your documentation and review process. You should measure and monitor the performance and quality of your documentation, as well as the satisfaction and feedback of your stakeholders. You should also compare and contrast your documentation results with your documentation goals, standards, and requirements, as well as your baseline data. This will help you to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of your documentation and review process, as well as the value and return on investment of your documentation project.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?