Documentation Systems Leader | Technical Writer | Technical Editor
I define and lead documentation systems, governance models, and content strategy for complex SaaS products by:
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Aligning content across teams and products
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Standardizing content structure
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Maintaining consistency as organizations evolve
My process
I approach documentation as a system that works across teams, products, and constant change.
While much of my work focuses on documentation strategy and governance, I remain actively involved in writing, editing, information architecture, and user-centered content design.
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Systems
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I build documentation systems that support multiple products and teams by defining structure, ownership, and the processes for creating, updating, and maintaining content.
Governance
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I establish clear standards and workflows so that documentation stays consistent and doesn’t drift. My process includes defining ownership, establishing review processes, and ensuring cross-functional partners can contribute without creating chaos.
Strategy
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I look at documentation at the organizational level—how it supports the product, the user experience, and the business. This strategy often includes stepping back, identifying what’s not working, and redefining how content is structured and delivered across teams.
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Impact
My impact on documentation systems
Most documentation issues aren't caused by tools, but instead, how the content is structured, written, and maintained. I've focused on fixing those gaps by making content easier for audiences to locate and understand.
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Making documentation usable—not just available
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Transformed long, chapter-style help topics into shorter, task-based and conceptual content that users could scan and act on.
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Eliminated unnecessary wordiness and “throw-away” language to improve clarity and searchability.
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Reduced the need for users to scroll through or expand large sections of content to find answers.
Applying structured content principles
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Shifted teams from print-oriented writing to user-centered, online-first content design.
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Introduced guidelines for structured content (concept, task, reference) and plain language usage.
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Reinforced user-centered best practices through writer training and ongoing editing reviews.
Reducing friction in content creation and publishing
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Standardized tools and processes across legacy teams following an acquisition.
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Reduced documentation publishing cycles from one week to two days by streamlining workflows.
Scaling content across complex product environments
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Supported documentation for 30+ cloud applications across multiple platforms and modules.
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Migrated 17,000+ help topics into a unified repository and publishing model.
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Helped teams manage large content projects consistently and efficiently.
Improving access to information
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Researched why users could not effectively search or navigate help content.
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Reorganized/rechunked lengthy topics to make search results more relevant and usable.
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Shifted users away from static PDFs and toward searchable, in-product help.
Strengthening quality and consistency
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Developed and evangelized style guidelines that supported clarity, consistency, and localization.
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Edited customer-facing content to ensure accuracy, consistency, and usability at scale.
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Embedded user-centered writing practices into everyday workflows.
Applying AI with editorial oversight
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Developed structured prompts that aligned AI-generated recommendations with established writing standards and editorial guidelines.
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Created review processes that required AI-suggested edits to cite the applicable guideline and explain the recommendation in context.
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Case Studies
My system design in action
These real-life case studies show how I designed and implemented documentation systems by combining structure, governance, and user experience to support consistency and usability.​​​​​​​
Centralized content management and publishing workflows
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The challenge: Combining two legacy documentation teams revealed different content management and publishing workflows across two product platforms and 30+ solutions with varied release cadences.
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Strategy
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​​​​Analyzed how each model supported multi-product documentation.
- Identified tradeoffs betweem writer autonomy and centralized control.
- Evaluated impact on publishing speed, consistency, and quality.
- Researched effort required to standarize processes across team.
Implementation and leadership​
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Selected MadCap Central (now MadCap Flare Online) as the unified CMS and publishing solution for both legacy teams.
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Directed evaluation and testing of new publishing workflows and partnered with team members to refine processes and ensure scalability.
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Secured additional software licenses and built consensus with Engineering and leadership on tooling and publishing strategy.
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Planned and coordinated transition timelines to minimize disruption to release schedules.
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Led rollout and adoption, including writer training, revised workflows, and communication across the organization.
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Outcomes​
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Fully eliminated dependency on Engineering for release publishing tasks.
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Reduced publishing cycle time from one week to two days.
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Improved consistency and predictability of documentation delivery across teams.
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Increased team efficiency through streamlined workflows and clear ownership.
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Led the successful migration of more than 17,000 topics into a single repository.
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Enabled single-sourcing and content reuse across products and platforms.
Standardized release notes and Help portals
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The challenge: Following an acquisition, users navigated to very different content experiences.
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Strategy​​
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Analyzed differences in audience, content structure, navigation, and user experience across both platforms.
- Prioritized findability, scannability, and direct access to product-specific information.
- Assessed how content structure and navigation affected usability and access to product information.
- Defined a unified experience that balanced centralized access with product-level clarity.
Implementation and leadership​
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Redesigned release notes templates to provide one-click access to the latest updates and direct links to product-specific content.
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Introduced user-centered strategies to improve scanning and reduce reliance on scrolling.
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Redesigned/rebranded Help Center portals to centralize access while improving navigation, organization, cross-platform access, and usability.
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Established shared standards to establish a consistent experience for users transitioning
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Built consensus across teams and stakeholders to implement a unified content experience.
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Outcomes​
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Reduced bounce rate by ~20% across Help portals.
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Improved findability of product-specific release information.
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IIncreased user engagement through structured, more scannable content design.
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Delivered a consistent, unified experience across previously fragmented platforms.
Transformed legacy documentation through structured content
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The challenge: Legacy help content appeared as long, print-style topics that required excessive scrolling and expanding to locate conceptual and task-based information. This limited visibility created the perception that help documentation was incomplete and drove continued reliance on redudant PDF deliverables.
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Strategy​
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Introduced structured content (concepts, tasks, and reference topics) and user-centered strategies to improve scanning and reduce reliance on scrolling.
- Developed and delivered a two-day User-Centered Documentation training program for writers.
- Collaborated with Support to prioritize high-visibility products and maximize impact and adoption.
Implementation and leadership​​​
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Updated guidelines to reflect new content strategysupport structure content and user-centered writing. ​
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Reviewed restructured content to reinforce standards and ensure consistency.
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Worked across teams and leadership to phase out redundant PDF deliverables and support transition to HTML-based help.
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Outcomes​
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Improved findability and usability through shorter, task-focused content.
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Increased visibility of Help topics within navigation structures.
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Eliminated reliance on PDF documentation as primary navigation aid.
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Established a scalable content model to support long-term consistency and reuse.
Expertise & Tools
My expertise in systems and tools
I combine documentation strategy, content design, and hands-on execution to create systems that are clear, usable, and built to scale. My expertise spans the full documentation lifecycle—from writing, editing, and content structure to governance, publishing, and continuous improvement.
Expertise
Documentation strategy​
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Content lifecycle (creation, maintenance, and governance)
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Documentation roadmaps
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Release cycles and versioning
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Multi-product documentation systems
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Large-scale documentation repositories
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Content design (structure)
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Information architecture
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Content structure and readability optimization
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Accessibility best practices (WCAG 2.1)
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Structured content and topic chunking
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Single-sourcing and reuse
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User experience (interaction)
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User-centered documentation
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Outcome-based writing
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In-product guidance (contextual help, tooltips, announcements)
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Real-world workflows
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Multiple-audience considerations (end-users, admins,
stakeholders)​
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Editorial quality (clarity)
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Branding standards and style guide development
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Cross-functional workflows (Engineering, UX, Product, Support)
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Editorial review processes (developmental, substantive, copyediting, peer)
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Content validation and quality assurance testing
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Governance
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Documentation ownership and accountability
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Standardized tools, templates, and formats
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Editorial standards and review workflows
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Change management
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Leadership
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Leading and mentoring distributed technical writing teams
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Modeling player-coach leadership style
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Collaborating with Product, Engineering, UX, and Support
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Aligning stakeholders and prioritizing documentation
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Driving adoption of tools, standards, and workflows
Technologies and tools
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Authoring & CMS
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MadCap Flare (MadCap Online)
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Adobe FrameMaker
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DITA XML​
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Oxygen
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Collaboration
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Git, GitHub, GitKraken
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Confluence
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Wikipedia​
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Jira, Azure DevOps
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Google Docs
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SharePoint (Administrator)
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Product & UX tools
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Visio
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Pendo
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WalkMe
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Figma​
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Visio
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SnagIt
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Analytics
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Google Analytics
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Flare
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AI-assisted documentation
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Integrating generative AI into documentation processes to improve speed and consistency
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AI-assisted drafting from engineering tickets and requirements
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AI-assisted editing and validation workflows​
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Prompt frameworks aligned with editorial standards and terminology
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Portfolio
My documentation systems at work
I combine hands‑on content expertise with strategic leadership to modernize documentation systems and elevate user experience. My portfolio reflects contributions across style guidelines, editorial governance, platform improvements, and content modernization initiatives that support clear communication, strong alignment, and efficient workflows.
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Click the deliverables links to view them in a new window.
Editorial governance
Developed a comprehensive Style Guide that consolidated editorial standards, writing conventions, terminology guidance, and best practices from two legacy teams into a single reference source.
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Result: Established a framework for consistency across products, teams, and content types while supporting scalable documentation and training initiatives.
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Demonstrates: Editorial governance, guidelines development, terminology management, author enablement, cross-team consistency, consensus building​
Knowledge Hub
Designed and launched a SharePoint-based Knowledge Hub that centralized customer documentation, support content, training resources, style guidelines, and team processes.
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Result: Created an official repository that improved content accessibility, supported contributor onboarding, and enabled consistent documentation practices across the organization.
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Demonstrates: Knowledge management, information architecture, editorial standards, documentation processes, team enablement​
Help portal redesign
Redesigned customer-facing Help Portals to improve navigation, content organization, searchability, and overall usability.
Result: Created a consistent and intuitive cross-platform content experience and improved customer access to information.
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Demonstrates: Information architecture, WCAG 2.1 guidelines, usability best practices, content strategy,
accessibility, searchability
Release notes redesign
Redesigned Release Notes to improve readability, organization, and customer adoption of new features and enhancements.
Result: Applied content design principles to transform highly technical information into a structured, scannable format that helped users quickly identify relevant product changes and actions.
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Demonstrates: Content strategy, audience-focused communication, information design, content usability
Documentation Team workspace
Created a centralized Confluence Team Site following the merger of two legacy documentation organizations.
Result: Consolidated workflows, style guidance, team processes, and operational resources into a shared environment that promoted consistency, improved onboarding, and established a sustainable framework for ongoing collaboration.
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Demonstrates: Documentation governance, process development, team collaboration, change management
Endorsements
Feedback from colleagues, managers, and former team members
For more recommendations, see LinkedIn.
"Katy brings a wealth of experience as a technical writer, which allows her to make clear, informed decisions about documentation best practices. Under her direction, we adopted a user-centric vision, ensuring that the content supported real customer needs and product usability.
Katy is a thoughtful, innovative, and empowering leader who builds trust, inspires collaboration, and drives meaningful results."
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Sherrie Willey, Technical Writer
Strata Decision Technology
"Katy and I were colleagues in Educational Services. Her commitment to excellence and attention to detail drove quality outcomes in every project. I considered Katy a mentor in content management, editing, and maintaining process documentation."
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Nan Berrian, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
JD Edwards / PeopleSoft / Oracle
"​Katy is adept at writing clear, easy-to-understand, user-centered documentation. She is willing to take on seemingly impossible tasks and come out on top. Katy is quick to volunteer to take on new responsibilities."
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Troy Holmes, Senior Manager
Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies
"Katy is a terrific editor. Her edits are thoughtful and consistent, and everyone one of my documents improved for having been edited by Katy. Not only is Katy a fine editor, but she is also an excellent team leader."
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Neal Alhadeff, Senior Technical Writer
JD Edwards / PeopleSoft / Oracle
"Katy took time to understand my goals and provide insightful, actionable feedback.
She is an excellent editor who improves both the writing and the writer. She was proactive about integrating AI into our workflows and encouraging the team to experiment with tools that could elevate our work. Katy is a technical writing leader who combines strategic thinking with authentic investment in her team."
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Molly Munson, Technical Writer
Strata Decision Technology
"Katy is a wonderful coworker and editor. She guided our documentation team on establishing and following standards and using minimalist documentation principles."
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Dana Aubin, Senior Consultant
Comtech Services, Inc.
"I feel lucky to have worked with Katy. I was impressed with her dedication, focus, energy, and sense of direction.
She worked with me on modernizing our online Help, giving it a fresh, user-focused look that elevated how our documentation was received. As an editor, she's exceptional--thoughtful and precise.
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Working with Katy made me a stronger writer and teammate."
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Ron Gardner, Senior Technical Writer
Strata Decision Technology
"When I describe Katy on the job, these words come to mind: leader, skilled, experienced, professional, and motivated. She doesn't just do her job; she looks to see what can be improved and presents great ideas that are achieved with her leadership. She's also a team player who inspires and empowers her coworkers."
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Linda Patryas, Sr.Technical Writer (retired)
Allscripts
"Katy strives for excellence and achieves it. She has excelled in management positions as well as individual contributor roles. Throughout, her leadership and guidance have served her well. She has the ability to not only look at the work at hand, but see the big picture and make strategic decisions to improve any work project."
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Frank Tagader, User Education Specialist
Sylogist, Ltd.
"Katy's adaptability through a huge merger was evident as she managed multiple releases, frequent patches, and urgent escalations--all while maintaining high-quality documentation.
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She elevated our documentation by introducing style guidelines and user-centered writing strategies, aligning terminology, and enhancing high-visibility guides. Katy embodies collaboration, ownership, and humility, and her dedication and resilience would make her an invaluable asset to any organization."
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Jack Wight, Principal Tech Writer (retired)
Strata Decision Technology