A Field Study of Developer Documentation Format
Mathieu Nassif, Martin P. Robillard · 2023
Documentation facilitates the transfer of knowledge among programmers and helps them become familiar with new technologies. However, the effectiveness with which a reader can find information in a document depends on its presentation format. In a prior publication, we presented Casdoc, a novel dynamic format for code examples. In this work, we synthesized five documentation presentation guidelines from prior research on programmer information needs and search behaviors. We then used Casdoc as an instrument to evaluate the impact of these guidelines in a field study with 326 students who used 126 documents over several months. Participants overwhelmingly chose to use Casdoc instead of a static baseline format. We observed that interactive documents can contain more information without distracting its readers. We also found some limitations that authors should consider when applying the guidelines, such as the large impact of small differences in visual cues to help readers navigate a document.