ISTC article on developer documentation trends
You can read the ISTC article in PDF form here:
I also added an HTML version on my API doc course here: Developer documentation trends — survey results. This writeup is the official presentation and analysis of the data.
Note that I’ve given two presentations that discuss the results as well:
- API the Docs recording: How Trends in API Documentation Differ from other Tech Comm Trends
- Webinar recording: How Trends in API Documentation Differ from other Tech Comm Trends
A few people have asked whether I’ll be doing another survey in the future to see how trends evolve from the ones surveyed here. That might be a good idea. This space changes rather quickly, so perhaps I’ll follow up in 2022.
About Tom Johnson

I'm a technical writer / API doc specialist based in the Seattle area. In this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, visual communication, information architecture, writing techniques, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation if you're looking for more info about that. If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the field, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.