# 022: How I Design Docs Boards

¡Hola, Tech Writing Friends!

Your docs board = your docs roadmap.

So, who owns your docs board?

Owning the docs board is how you build your credibility, visibility, and leadership.

When your board is clear, well-labeled, and tightly scoped to upcoming work, you stop being “the writer” and start being “the person who runs docs like a product.”

Let’s talk about how to design your docs board.

Suggested Docs Columns (Stages)

1. Blocked – Dependencies, approvals, or info missing

2. Not started – Tasks that are scoped and ready to pick up

3. In progress – Work you’re actively researching, writing, or testing

4. Under review – Waiting for stakeholder sign-off or engineering pull request reviews

5. Done – Merged and live in production

Optional: Add an Idea/Parking Lot column for backlog items you’ve scoped but haven’t prioritized yet.

Tags and Labels That Matter

Add meaningful context to your docs issue templates with tags:

• Due date – Show urgency and stay aligned with releases

• Content type – Label as new doc, doc update, bug fix, etc.

• Release version – e.g., v2.3.0

• Priority level – High, medium, low

• Docs owner – Who’s responsible for delivery

These help cross-functional teams understand what's coming and when—and help you juggle multiple deadlines with grace.

How to Select Priority Levels for Docs Tasks

Not all documentation tasks are created equal—so don’t treat them like they are.

Assigning the right priority level helps your team focus on what truly moves the needle and prevents last-minute chaos during release week.

🔴 High Priority

• Docs that block a release or feature launch

• Docs tied to known customer pain points or churn risks

• Security, compliance, or legal-critical content

• Anything flagged as “must-have” by product or support

Think: If we don’t ship this, something breaks.

🟡 Medium Priority

• Updates to existing docs that are helpful but not urgent

• Internal process docs that improve team efficiency

• Documentation bugs that have a workaround

Think: This is important, but the world won’t burn down if it waits a sprint.

🟢 Low Priority

• Nice-to-have content ideas

• Typos, grammar issues, or punctuation mistakes

• Cleanup tasks like link-checking or formatting consistency

• Long-term backlog or exploratory tasks

Think: It’s valuable—but not today.

Custom Views for Sanity and Strategy

Create filters and saved views once you have your columns and tags in place.

• By Docs Task – See everything labeled bug fix or release note in one view

• By Assignee – Helpful if you manage a docs team or collaborate with multiple writers

• By Priority – Stay focused on what matters most

• By Version – Helpful during big releases or migration efforts

Custom views keep your board from becoming overwhelming. You can zoom in and out depending on what you need that week.

Your Next Action Steps

1. Choose a tool: GitHub Projects, Jira, Asana, Trello, Notion—whatever your team already uses.

2. Set up your columns and labels using the model above.

3. Create saved views that help you filter the chaos.

4. Share your board during sprint planning, standups, or release meetings. Make it part of the process.

You earn a seat at the table when you present your docs board using the same rhythm, structure, and tagging practices.

Your docs board becomes a shared visibility tool, a planning map, and a signal to your team that you’re not just writing words—you’re delivering value.

Hasta luego,

–Quetzalli