Okteto ❤️ Content
Here at Okteto, we take a content first approach to our work because we care about Developer Experience.
What is Developer Experience?
Developer Experience (DX) goes hand in hand with the more widely known term User Experience (UX), but unlike UX, which could be in reference to any user group, DX specifically refers to when your users are developers. You may wonder why the difference in terminology is necessary, but we actually think it’s pretty important.
If you’re creating products for developers, there are certain things that matter more to them than a different group of users who might use a tech tool in their work, but are primarily in a non-technical role.
Developers have specific pain points or friction points that are unique to them, and while not universal to all the developers all the time, they tend to be fairly consistent across the board.
For example, if you’re a developer, you’ll likely relate to this list of friction points:
- Waiting for code to compile
- The neverending problem of code working on your machine, but not for others
- Quality assurance issues
- Test environment and production environment reacting differently
- Sluggish computer due to using too many resources
- Time limitations between new releases
- Or, maybe the infamous “It works on my machine…”
We could go on…
The point is, these issues are common to developers, but not to any other user group. That’s why DX is such an important thing to get right when your customers are developers. Improving Developer Experience leads to more productive and happier customers 🎉🎉🎉.
And who wouldn’t want that?
How does content play a role in improving DX?
We believe content plays a big role in Developer Experience, and that role goes far beyond just documentation (although getting documentation right is a big part of it).
Here are some other content considerations for improving DX:
UI content can often make or break an experience
Is the content clear? Concise? Does it stand out (because it shouldn’t)? Does it move you along in your workflow without adding confusion? Does a user have to stop what they’re doing to understand the content in the UI, or is it intuitive?
Help content is equally important for any type of software product
What types of tutorials and demos are available? Are they easy to work through and are they updated to match with the latest release of the software? Are the provided examples useful and do they show real use cases that you can put into practice?
Thought Leadership content can have a lasting impression
Is the company providing helpful thought leadership on issues where they could have a big impact? Are they educating their audience with new ideas? How are they giving back to the developer community through content in some way?
Okteto’s content and DX
Here at Okteto, we’ve always believed that content is key in gaining trust and building a brand that developers want to work with, while also providing useful content that makes their jobs easier. That’s why we hired a content designer 👋
We’re working hard to create content that will empower and educate developers to do their best work.
We’ve created content style guidelines and playbooks to help our entire team as they produce content for multiple platforms.
We’re conducting customer research to really understand any friction points developers have and find ways to solve those.
We’re also expanding our content by inviting guest writers to participate in writing for Okteto, making it truly a “for developers, by developers” experience. Interested in applying? Get more details here!
Our aim is to create useful content that helps you work faster, get more done, and have a sense of ease as you code. We’re excited for you to join us on this journey.
What do you think about content for Developer Experience? Is there anything you wish you could see more of? Anything you think should be done less?
Let’s start the conversation on Twitter! Take our short poll and let us know what you think!