Why Documentation Doesn’t Need to Be Slow

For many teams, documentation feels like a task you schedule.

You block time on the calendar. You gather context. You open a doc. You promise yourself you’ll “clean it up later.” And somehow, later never comes.

This creates the myth that documentation is slow, heavy, and disruptive.

In reality, documentation only becomes slow when it’s separated from the work itself. When you try to reconstruct a process after the fact—based on memory or notes—you add friction at every step.

The fastest documentation happens while the work is already happening.

What You Need Before You Start

Before you hit record, you only need two things:

1. A clear goal
   What is the outcome someone should reach by following this process?

2. A short, repeatable workflow
   If it’s something you’ve explained more than once, it’s perfect.

That’s it.

You don’t need:

• A perfect script

• A detailed outline

• Approval from five stakeholders

If the process takes longer than 10 minutes to perform, that’s fine. The documentation part still doesn’t have to.

Step 1: Record the Process

This is the most important step—and the one people overthink the most.

Open your screen recorder and do the process exactly as you normally would.

As you record:

• Say what you’re doing and why

• Show the clicks, fields, and decisions

• Don’t stop for mistakes—they’re often useful context

Think of it like explaining the task to a teammate sitting next to you. Natural, simple, and real.

Most recordings for a single process take 3–5 minutes.

Step 2: Turn the Recording Into Steps

Once the recording exists, structure becomes easy.

Instead of writing from scratch, you’re now organizing what already happened:

• Break the recording into logical steps

• Each step corresponds to a clear action

• Screenshots naturally align with the steps

This removes the hardest part of documentation: deciding what goes where. The workflow has already done that for you.

You’re not inventing structure—you’re revealing it.

Step 3: Add Context and Notes

This is where the guide becomes truly useful.

Look through the steps and add:

• Short notes for edge cases

• Tips for common mistakes

• Clarifications where people usually get stuck

Keep this lightweight. If something needs a paragraph to explain, it’s probably better shown visually.

Most guides only need a few well-placed notes to prevent 80% of follow-up questions.

Step 4: Publish and Share

At this point, the guide is ready to be used.

The final decision is simply who it’s for:

• Internal guides for teammates or onboarding

• External guides for customers or partners

Because the guide is structured and editable, you can always refine it later. Publishing doesn’t mean “final”—it means useful now.

And that’s the real goal.

When to Spend More Than 10 Minutes

Not every process should be rushed.

Spend more time when:

• The workflow is regulated or compliance-heavy

• Mistakes are costly or irreversible

• The audience is completely unfamiliar with the context

Even then, starting with a recording still saves time. You’re just choosing to refine the guide more carefully.

The key difference is this:
You’re improving something that already exists—not staring at a blank page.

The Real Shift

The biggest change isn’t speed. It’s mindset.

When documentation becomes the byproduct of work, instead of a separate task, it stops getting postponed. It stops feeling heavy. And it actually stays up to date.

Ten minutes is often all it takes to create something that saves hours later.

Try It Yourself

Pick one small process you’ve explained recently. Record it once. Turn it into a guide.

You can create your first one for free here:
👉 https://x.buildaguide.app/start

You may find that documentation doesn’t need to be slow at all—it just needs a better starting point.