Documentor mindsets: Considerations when contributing learning resources for software development technologies

Deeksha M. Arya

doi:10.1007/s10664-026-10938-9

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Documentor mindsets: Considerations when contributing learning resources for software development technologies

2026-08-15

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DOI：10.1007/s10664-026-10938-9

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Abstract

En 中文

Many volunteers contribute learning resources for software development technologies online. We interviewed 26 volunteer contributors, i.e. documentors, to understand why and how they design, create, and contribute software documentation. From a qualitative analysis of our interviews, we identified sixteen considerations that documentors have during the contribution process, along three dimensions, namely motivations, topic selection techniques, and styling objectives. We grouped conceptually related considerations to elicit five mindsets that documentors have during the creation of software documentation. We contribute a framework for describing documentor mindsets, and their associated considerations across the three dimensions. This framework provides a structure and vocabulary for reasoning about the documentation contribution process. Based on the framework, we surface the need to reconsider existing perspectives of the documentation creation process, including the role of the documentor and metrics to measure documentation quality. Our insights can inform software documentation creation tools and future research on user generated learning resources.

Keywords:

Software documentation

Learning resources

Software development technologies

Software creation and management

Interview study

Qualitative analysis

Mindsets

Thought processes