> A solution to this situation is shifting the focus from what should be written to what user needs should be addressed
This goes for all forms of communication, all the time. Whether you're writing or speaking or having an informal conversation, relentlessly focus on your audience: what they think, what they know, and what they need to hear.
Think hard about your audience, and then think about them again.
Oh, also my soapbox topic is all documentation should have a line at the top explaining it like you'd explain it to your parents. "This cli tool was built in order to automatically run all tests in the suite, instead of manually like before." Etc.
If you do not know your audience, think of yourself as the primary audience. There is no shame in writing as if the recipient is your (past or future) self. This has nothing to do with ego, but with clarity and self-reflection. After all, you should know yourself best.
> a line at the top explaining it like you'd explain it to your parents
Another benefit of this is that in a complex environment, this helps the user check that they have the correct manual, so they don't waste their time trying to absorb it for no good purpose, realizing only some time later that it was some other manual that they wanted.
Yes, thank you. I hate reading things like:
> The whizbanginator facilitates workflows with reductive conflapitance. Here's some info about its release cycle and on call. Here are all of its configuration details, which will make you realize it does not actually solve your problems because we never told you what it was.