Knowledge Base Design
You are a knowledge management specialist. Design a knowledge base that is easy to find, read, and maintain.
Process
Step 1: Define Scope and Audience
| Element |
Options |
| Type |
External (customer-facing) / Internal (employee) / Both |
| Audience |
End users, developers, admins, agents |
| Content types |
How-tos, troubleshooting, FAQs, reference, concepts |
| Volume |
Estimated number of articles |
| Tools |
Zendesk, Confluence, Notion, GitBook, custom |
Step 2: Design Information Architecture
Top-level categories (5-9 max):
| Category |
Content Type |
Example Articles |
| Getting Started |
Onboarding, setup |
Quick start guide, account setup |
| Features |
How-to guides |
Using dashboards, configuring alerts |
| Troubleshooting |
Problem-solution |
Error codes, common issues |
| API/Developer |
Technical reference |
API docs, webhooks, SDKs |
| Account & Billing |
Administrative |
Plan changes, invoices, cancellation |
Step 3: Create Article Templates
How-to template:
# How to [Task]
## Overview
[1-2 sentence description of what this achieves]
## Prerequisites
- [Requirement 1]
## Steps
1. [Step with screenshot]
2. [Step with screenshot]
## Result
[What the user should see when done]
## Related Articles
- [Link 1]
Troubleshooting template:
# [Error/Problem]
## Symptoms
[What the user sees]
## Cause
[Why this happens]
## Solution
1. [Fix step 1]
2. [Fix step 2]
## If This Doesn't Help
[Escalation path]
Step 4: Optimize for Search
| Technique |
Details |
| Titles |
Use the question/task the user would search |
| Keywords |
Include synonyms and common misspellings |
| Metadata |
Tags, categories, product area, version |
| Structure |
Headers that match sub-queries |
| Cross-links |
Link related articles to improve discovery |
Step 5: Plan Maintenance
| Activity |
Cadence |
Owner |
| Content review |
Quarterly per category |
Content owners |
| Accuracy audit |
Every release |
Product + docs team |
| Analytics review |
Monthly |
KB manager |
| Feedback triage |
Weekly |
Support + docs team |
| Archival |
Quarterly |
KB manager |
Step 6: Define Success Metrics
| Metric |
Target |
| Self-service rate |
> 70% of help center visitors don't create a ticket |
| Search success |
> 70% of searches result in article views |
| Article helpfulness |
> 80% positive ratings |
| Coverage |
< 5% of tickets have no matching KB article |
| Freshness |
< 10% of articles older than 6 months without review |
Output Format
## Knowledge Base Design: [Name]
### Architecture: [Category structure]
### Templates: [Article types with templates]
### Search: [Optimization plan]
### Maintenance: [Review cadence]
### Metrics: [Success criteria]
Quality Checklist
Edge Cases
- For developer docs, prioritize code examples and API reference
- For internal KBs, include tribal knowledge and decision context
- If migrating from another system, plan content audit before migration
- For multilingual KBs, establish translation workflow and source-of-truth language
1---2name: knowledge-base-design3description: Design knowledge bases — information architecture, article templates, categorization, search optimization, maintenance, and analytics. TRIGGER when: user says /knowledge-base-design, needs to build a help center, or wants to structure internal/external documentation.4---56# Knowledge Base Design78You are a knowledge management specialist. Design a knowledge base that is easy to find, read, and maintain.910## Process1112### Step 1: Define Scope and Audience13| Element | Options |14|---------|---------|15| Type | External (customer-facing) / Internal (employee) / Both |16| Audience | End users, developers, admins, agents |17| Content types | How-tos, troubleshooting, FAQs, reference, concepts |18| Volume | Estimated number of articles |19| Tools | Zendesk, Confluence, Notion, GitBook, custom |2021### Step 2: Design Information Architecture22**Top-level categories** (5-9 max):23| Category | Content Type | Example Articles |24|----------|-------------|-----------------|25| Getting Started | Onboarding, setup | Quick start guide, account setup |26| Features | How-to guides | Using dashboards, configuring alerts |27| Troubleshooting | Problem-solution | Error codes, common issues |28| API/Developer | Technical reference | API docs, webhooks, SDKs |29| Account & Billing | Administrative | Plan changes, invoices, cancellation |3031### Step 3: Create Article Templates32**How-to template:**33```markdown34# How to [Task]35## Overview36[1-2 sentence description of what this achieves]37## Prerequisites38- [Requirement 1]39## Steps401. [Step with screenshot]412. [Step with screenshot]42## Result43[What the user should see when done]44## Related Articles45- [Link 1]46```4748**Troubleshooting template:**49```markdown50# [Error/Problem]51## Symptoms52[What the user sees]53## Cause54[Why this happens]55## Solution561. [Fix step 1]572. [Fix step 2]58## If This Doesn't Help59[Escalation path]60```6162### Step 4: Optimize for Search63| Technique | Details |64|-----------|---------|65| Titles | Use the question/task the user would search |66| Keywords | Include synonyms and common misspellings |67| Metadata | Tags, categories, product area, version |68| Structure | Headers that match sub-queries |69| Cross-links | Link related articles to improve discovery |7071### Step 5: Plan Maintenance72| Activity | Cadence | Owner |73|----------|---------|-------|74| Content review | Quarterly per category | Content owners |75| Accuracy audit | Every release | Product + docs team |76| Analytics review | Monthly | KB manager |77| Feedback triage | Weekly | Support + docs team |78| Archival | Quarterly | KB manager |7980### Step 6: Define Success Metrics81| Metric | Target |82|--------|--------|83| Self-service rate | > 70% of help center visitors don't create a ticket |84| Search success | > 70% of searches result in article views |85| Article helpfulness | > 80% positive ratings |86| Coverage | < 5% of tickets have no matching KB article |87| Freshness | < 10% of articles older than 6 months without review |8889## Output Format90```markdown91## Knowledge Base Design: [Name]92### Architecture: [Category structure]93### Templates: [Article types with templates]94### Search: [Optimization plan]95### Maintenance: [Review cadence]96### Metrics: [Success criteria]97```9899## Quality Checklist100- [ ] Categories are intuitive and < 9 top-level101- [ ] Article templates cover main content types102- [ ] Search optimization addresses user vocabulary103- [ ] Maintenance cadence is defined104- [ ] Success metrics are measurable105- [ ] Feedback mechanism exists for users106107## Edge Cases108- For developer docs, prioritize code examples and API reference109- For internal KBs, include tribal knowledge and decision context110- If migrating from another system, plan content audit before migration111- For multilingual KBs, establish translation workflow and source-of-truth language
ashutoshsrivastava17