Imagine two developers sitting down with the documentation for SuperForms, a fictional SaaS product that promises to handle the “backend nastiness” of web forms with a single API call. SuperForms has invested real effort into its docs: a clean quickstart, SDKs for six languages, and a sleek REST API walkthrough.
Sam (The Senior) opens the quickstart, skims the authentication section, copies a curl command to test the endpoint, and has form submissions hitting her backend within twenty minutes. She finds the docs “refreshingly concise” and rates them a 9/10.
Jamie (The Junior) opens the exact same page. He reads the authentication section three times, unsure if his API key belongs in the frontend code or a backend script. He pastes the initialization snippet, gets a 422 Unprocessed Entity error, and spends the next two hours on Stack Overflow because the docs didn’t explain what a 422 meant in this context. Jamie finds the docs “incomplete and elitist.” He rates them a 3/10.
They read the same words. They had completely different experiences.
The “Curse of Knowledge” at Work
This gap stems from a cognitive bias known as the Curse of Knowledge. Once you understand a complex concept (like the difference between client-side and server-side execution), it becomes almost impossible to remember what it felt like not to know it.
For the Senior, a sentence like “Store your API key as an environment variable” is a helpful shorthand. For the Junior, that same sentence is a wall. It assumes three hidden prerequisites:
- What an environment variable is.
- How to set one in their specific OS or deployment environment.
- How to reference that variable in their code without leaking it to the browser.
When docs skip these “obvious” steps to remain “clean,” they aren’t being minimalist—they are being exclusionary.
Finesse: How to Write for Both Audiences
Writing for both Sam and Jamie simultaneously isn’t just a courtesy; it’s a hallmark of elite technical documentation. You don’t have to “dumb down” the content for seniors to help the juniors. You just need to use Progressive Disclosure.
Here are four strategies to bridge the gap:
1. The “Prerequisite Map” (With Escape Hatches)
Never assume your reader has their environment configured. At the top of your SuperForms quickstart, include a “Before You Begin” box.
- The Finesse: List the required skills (e.g., Node.js,
.envfiles, Promises). Use aggressive hyperlinking. If Jamie doesn’t know what a Promise is, he can click the link to a “Conceptual Guide.” Sam will ignore the box entirely and keep scrolling.
2. The “Why” Toggle
Seniors want the What (the code). Juniors need the Why (the logic).
- The Finesse: Provide the code snippet prominently. Immediately below it, use a collapsible
<details>tag labeled “How this works under the hood.” Inside, explain the request-response cycle or why a specific header is required. This keeps the main flow “fast” for Sam while providing a safety net for Jamie.
3. Write Error Docs for the “Person in the Dark”
Most API references list error codes like a dictionary: 401: Unauthorized. This is useless to a junior who thinks they are authorized.
- The Finesse: Effective troubleshooting guides explain why the error usually happens (e.g., “You might be using your Test Key in a Production environment”) and provide the “First Step” to fix it. Writing for someone who has never seen the error before is the highest-value investment a tech writer can make.
4. Contextualize the “Floating Snippet”
A floating code snippet is a trap. If you show a SuperForms configuration object, show where it lives in a standard project structure.
- The Finesse: Use small annotations or a file-tree visual (e.g.,
src/api/submit.js). Simply stating, “You should see a ‘Success’ message in your terminal,” closes a feedback loop that seniors close in their heads automatically, but juniors often second-guess.
The Bottom Line: Empathy is a Technical Skill
The technical writer who treats “developers” as a monolith is, without meaning to, building a wall in the middle of their product.
Great documentation meets developers where they are, whether they are six months or sixteen years into their career, and helps them get somewhere better. It takes discipline to ask: “Who might not follow this, and what is the smallest thing I can provide to help them keep up?”
That question is the difference between a doc that is “pretty” and a doc that is useful.