Documentation Information Architecture
Use this skill to organize developer documentation so readers can find the right content at the right time. It works at doc-set and site level rather than single-page prose level.
This skill is derived from Docs for Developers: An Engineer's Field Guide to Technical Writing, especially Chapter 10, "Organizing documentation." It is expanded with paraphrased guidance from Christopher Gales and the Splunk Documentation Team's The Product Is Docs: Writing Technical Documentation in a Product Development Group, especially Chapter 17, "Tools and Content Delivery," plus related audience, learning-objective, maintenance, and SaaS guidance from Chapters 3, 9, 10, and 25. Do not copy book prose into user outputs. Source: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-7217-6
Quick Start
- Load
guidelines.md to choose the smallest useful reference set.
- Identify user mental models, common tasks, and existing content inventory.
- Choose or combine sequence, hierarchy, and web structures.
- Use
workflows/evaluate-doc-platform.md when choosing or migrating documentation tooling.
- Use
workflows/audit-doc-ia.md for full IA audit or redesign.
- Preserve redirects, metadata, source decisions, and maintenance rules.
Default Output
When auditing or redesigning IA, return:
- Current-state findings - navigation, gaps, duplication, stale content, and findability issues.
- User model - major audiences, tasks, and entry points.
- Recommended structure - sequence, hierarchy, web, landing pages, and navigation cues.
- Content actions - keep, remove, review, merge, split, move, or create.
- Migration plan - redirects, metadata, owners, and validation.
- Maintenance plan - how IA decisions stay current.
Contents
| Need |
Start Here |
| Understand IA patterns |
references/core/knowledge.md |
| Apply IA rules |
references/core/knowledge.md |
| See IA examples |
references/core/knowledge.md |
| Audit or redesign IA |
workflows/audit-doc-ia.md |
| Evaluate docs platform/tooling |
workflows/evaluate-doc-platform.md |
| Route by task |
guidelines.md |
Core Posture
- Organize docs around user mental models and tasks.
- Use landing pages to route quickly, not to create marketing detours.
- Keep navigation cues useful but economical.
- Treat migration and maintenance as part of IA design.
- Choose tools from reader, authoring, maintenance, and migration requirements rather than feature excitement.
Source: hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins → plugins/LVTD-LLC/skills/skills/documentation-information-architecture/SKILL.md
1---2name: documentation-information-architecture3description: Audit, organize, and redesign developer documentation information architecture, including content inventory, navigation, landing pages, sequences, hierarchies, webs, breadcrumbs, sidebars, metadata, redirects, migration, platform/tool selection, and maintainable IA decisions. Use when restructuring docs sites, improving findability, planning doc migration, evaluating docs tooling, or organizing large documentation sets.4---5
6
7# Documentation Information Architecture
8
9Use this skill to organize developer documentation so readers can find the right content at the right time. It works at doc-set and site level rather than single-page prose level.
10
11This skill is derived from *Docs for Developers: An Engineer's Field Guide to Technical Writing*, especially Chapter 10, "Organizing documentation." It is expanded with paraphrased guidance from Christopher Gales and the Splunk Documentation Team's *The Product Is Docs: Writing Technical Documentation in a Product Development Group*, especially Chapter 17, "Tools and Content Delivery," plus related audience, learning-objective, maintenance, and SaaS guidance from Chapters 3, 9, 10, and 25. Do not copy book prose into user outputs. Source: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-7217-6
12
13## Quick Start
14
151. Load `guidelines.md` to choose the smallest useful reference set.
162. Identify user mental models, common tasks, and existing content inventory.
173. Choose or combine sequence, hierarchy, and web structures.
184. Use `workflows/evaluate-doc-platform.md` when choosing or migrating documentation tooling.
195. Use `workflows/audit-doc-ia.md` for full IA audit or redesign.
206. Preserve redirects, metadata, source decisions, and maintenance rules.
21
22## Default Output
23
24When auditing or redesigning IA, return:
25
261. **Current-state findings** - navigation, gaps, duplication, stale content, and findability issues.
272. **User model** - major audiences, tasks, and entry points.
283. **Recommended structure** - sequence, hierarchy, web, landing pages, and navigation cues.
294. **Content actions** - keep, remove, review, merge, split, move, or create.
305. **Migration plan** - redirects, metadata, owners, and validation.
316. **Maintenance plan** - how IA decisions stay current.
32
33## Contents
34
35| Need | Start Here |
36|------|------------|
37| Understand IA patterns | `references/core/knowledge.md` |
38| Apply IA rules | `references/core/knowledge.md` |
39| See IA examples | `references/core/knowledge.md` |
40| Audit or redesign IA | `workflows/audit-doc-ia.md` |
41| Evaluate docs platform/tooling | `workflows/evaluate-doc-platform.md` |
42| Route by task | `guidelines.md` |
43
44## Core Posture
45
46- Organize docs around user mental models and tasks.
47- Use landing pages to route quickly, not to create marketing detours.
48- Keep navigation cues useful but economical.
49- Treat migration and maintenance as part of IA design.
50- Choose tools from reader, authoring, maintenance, and migration requirements rather than feature excitement.
51
52---
53
54**Source:** [`hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins`](https://github.com/hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins) → `plugins/LVTD-LLC/skills/skills/documentation-information-architecture/SKILL.md`
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