Data Center Documentation Organization: A Case Study of Effective Use of Confluence Spaces for Instructional Documentation

Abstract

“Big Fish Tech” (pseudonym) is a U.S. based tech company that hosts all its instructional documentation in the web-based application Confluence. The Technical Documentation team at Big Fish Tech is in charge of creating and updating documentation within many of the Confluence spaces, and while they work extensively with subject matter experts on content during the creation of these documents, the layout and organization of the spaces was developed by the Documentation team. To see if the organization worked for users, the usability study in this research project examined the navigability of the DC Tech Tasks Confluence space, the space that includes the instructional documentation for the company’s data center technicians. The test asked if the space helped the company’s data center technicians to find the information they needed for their job responsibilities, as well as if the Technical Documentation team was utilizing Confluence’s features effectively. Using remote testing practices, ten participants took the usability test and researchers found that participants familiar with the processes have more success finding information in the space, information further down in page trees was difficult to find, links could be confusing, use of Confluence’s macros was effective, that there was some question as to what was included in the space, and there was a strong reliance on search bars over point-and-click navigation. This study gives recommendations for improvement of the space and serves as a proof of concept for further usability studies of the company’s documentation.