Understanding Your Audience
The single most important rule in technical writing is this: Know Your Audience.
Your job is not to write what you know, but to write what the reader needs to know, presented in a way they can instantly understand and use. A document written for a CEO must look completely different from one written for a junior developer.
This page breaks down the process of audience analysis and introduces the four classic audience types you will encounter.
The Four Core Audience Types
In the world of documentation, readers can generally be segmented into four major categories based on their technical knowledge and purpose for reading.
1. Expert
The R&D scientist, the core platform engineer. They know the theory and design better than you do. They need concise details, design rationale, and complex data.
2. Technician / Operator
The System Administrator, the DevOps specialist. They maintain, configure, and operate the system. They need practical steps, troubleshooting guides, and clear procedures.
3. Executive / Manager
The CEO, the Product Manager. They make business decisions. They have minimal technical knowledge but need high-level summaries, cost-benefit analyses, and strategic implications.
4. Non-Specialist / Layperson
The end-user or customer. They just want to use the product to accomplish a specific task. They need simple, jargon-free instructions and clear visual aids.
Handling Mixed Audiences
It’s rare that a document will only be read by one type. A design document, for example, might be read by Experts (to validate the technical approach) and Executives (to approve the budget).
How to Adapt:
- Prioritize: Identify the primary audience (the one who will use the document most often). Write the main body for them.
- Sectioning: Use tools like Executive Summaries (for managers) and Appendixes (for experts) to isolate information.
- Headings: Use clear, descriptive headings (e.g., "Implementation Details for Developers" or "Quick Start: For Non-Technical Users") so readers can navigate past what they don't need.
User Personas: Bringing Your Reader to Life
While the four types are a great starting point, a true professional uses User Personas. A persona is a fictional, yet research-based, profile that represents a specific segment of your audience.
Personas make abstract analysis concrete and actionable.
The Persona Profile Example
Let's meet two personas for a new API product:
Devon the Developer
Senior Software Engineer
Goal
Integrate the API and get to 'Hello World' in under 15 minutes.
Pain Point
Slow, fragmented documentation that forces him to jump between pages.
Documentation Needs
Detailed API Reference, code samples in multiple languages, and clear error troubleshooting.
Penny the Product Manager
Product Lead
Goal
Understand the business value and how the API solves a user problem.
Pain Point
Getting bogged down in technical prerequisites and engineering jargon.
Documentation Needs
High-level feature overview, use case summaries, and pricing/rate limit details.
How to Use Your Personas
Whenever you write a section, ask yourself:
- "Would Devon find this confusing?"
- "Does this paragraph provide the information Penny actually needs?"
If the answer is no, you rewrite it. Personas are a shared reference point that keeps the entire team focused on the customer experience.
Key Takeaways
| Principle | Actionable Step |
|---|---|
| Always start here. | Before writing the first word, identify the primary reader's Knowledge Level and Goal. |
| Avoid Jargon. | Define every technical term that your target audience might not know, even if it feels obvious to you. |
| Don't Assume. | If you have multiple audiences, use summaries and clear headings to guide them quickly to their section. |
| Create a Face. | Build at least one User Persona to make the abstract reader a real person you are writing for. |