Documentation tools

Effective design documentation with contextual rationales ensures knowledge sharing, maintains consistency across team actions, and prevents information loss during team transitions or shuffles.

Here's what teams typically need to document:

• Design systems, component libraries, and style guides
• Project briefs and requirements
• Design decisions and rationales
• User research findings
• Technical specifications
• Process workflows
• Team conventions and guidelines
• Onboarding materials
• Meeting notes and action items
• Tool configurations and setups

To document these effectively, look for the following features in documentation tools:

• Access control and permission management
• Version history and change tracking
• Real-time collaboration capabilities
• Search and filter functionality
• Template creation and management
• Integration with design tools
• Cross-referencing and linking
• Media embedding support
• Comment and feedback systems
• Mobile access and offline modes

Notion (all-in-one workspace), GitBook (developer-friendly), and Zeroheight (design system focused) are some documentation tools worth exploring.