diff --git a/index.rst b/index.rst index 801a41c..7286709 100644 --- a/index.rst +++ b/index.rst @@ -9,10 +9,12 @@ documentation websites. Field research -------------- +* :ref:`Methodology ` * :ref:`Search boxes ` .. toctree:: :maxdepth: 1 :hidden: + methodology searchbox diff --git a/methodology.rst b/methodology.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4b1215 --- /dev/null +++ b/methodology.rst @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +.. _methodology: + +=========================== +Field research: methodology +=========================== + +This page outlines how I approach all my field research. + +-------------------------------------------------------- +Heavy bias towards docs sites for computer professionals +-------------------------------------------------------- + +I write docs for software engineers. My research is heavily biased towards +docs sites for these people. The docs sites for people in other domains +are under very different constraints. However, over time I may try to sample +docs sites from other domains precisely because they might approach the same +problem very differently than docs sites for software engineers. + +----------------- +Docs site "types" +----------------- + +I aim to get a wide-range of samples from different "types" of docs sites. +The docs sites for code libraries, CLI tools, programming languages, and +platforms are all under very different constraints and therefore often solve +the same problem in very different ways. + +------------- +Popular sites +------------- + +I lean towards studying docs sites for products that I know to be popular. The +rationale is that these sites essentially condition us around what's normal +and what's not normal for a docs site.