Why documentation matters

It’s easy to look at a website and think that it’s easy to build. The same can be said of almost anything. When you first look at a plot of land and think of building a house you most likely begin thinking about fences, gardens, walls and maybe even a pool. A builder on the other hand will probably think about completely different things, like the best type of foundation for the soil you’re building on or the street access for trucks and earthmoving equipment.

Similarly, when thinking about a website, the first thing a developer will consider is what functions the website contains. What a website does is central to the way in which it is built, and when it comes to functionality the plans need to be absolutely clear to everyone involved.

A doorway in the roof of a house may work perfectly but it’s still not a lot of use to people trying to get inside on a rainy day. In the same way, there are a lot of things you can put on a website, but without clear plans that detail where things go and how they work you’re just asking for trouble.