DDLC simplified: Important technical writing concept explained

What is the DDLC in technical writing? Is DDLC important? What are the phases in DDLC? As a beginner, do you need to know the DDLC? In this article, I address some of these questions along with the phases in DDLC and what a technical writer does in each phase.

DDLC is one of the most important concepts of technical writing. It is a featured question in technical writing job interviews. Given that DDLC is a very important concept to understand, I have covered only the basic description and definition of DDLC in this article and dedicated a separate article to discuss the phases of DDLC in detail. If you are a beginner or an entry-level technical writer, I recommend that you read this article first and then check out the detailed article. OR, if you like to live dangerously, then here’s a link to the detailed article 😊.

What is DDLC in technical writing?

Document development life cycle, aka DDLC, much like the software development life cycle (or SDLC), is a collection of the typical phases or stages in a document’s development. Right from the document’s inception to its final delivery and subsequent maintenance. As a beginner or entry-level technical writer, you must understand the DDLC well. It is usually one of the first questions you are asked in interviews.

Do technical writers need DDLC?

As a technical writer, your work closely revolves around the DDLC. The DDLC follows a natural, logical order of the documentation’s evolution and the successful and thorough completion of each phase dictates the success of the next phase, and eventually the documentation as a whole.

Do I need to understand the DDLC as a beginner or entry-level technical writer?

Yes, of course. DDLC dictates the natural path that a technical writer must follow when documenting anything. Therefore, as a beginner, you must understand the DDLC very well. DDLC is also a favorite question during job interviews, so understanding the DDLC and its phases will likely give you an added advantage!

What are the phases in the DDLC?

Generally, there are six phases. It is not a rigid principle to follow, the number of phases may increase or decrease depending upon your organization. For instance, the Review phase might be broken up into Technical review and Editor review.

1. Analyze
2. Design
3. Develop
4. Review
5. Deploy
6. Maintain

Here is a brief description of what a technical writer must do in each of these phases. Since DDLC is a very important topic, I have created a much more detailed article about each phase in the DDLC to help beginners and entry-level technical writers understand them better.

Analyze

Research and analyze the product or topic to understand the topic’s purpose, functionality, limitations, and also the targeted audience. You review existing design or end-user documentation as the primary inputs. You also schedule interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) to get clarifications. Document everything you find out for reference when developing the content.

Design

Create a proposed design describing the document type (user guide, troubleshooting guide, etc.), the document’s format, and the manner of deployment. Project stakeholders must sign off on this design to avoid reworking later. You might not need a formal design if the topic is minor or the scope is limited to enhancing existing documentation.

Develop

Start creating the content based on the notes you created during the Analyze phase. Use the product, if available, to get a better understanding of how it works. Hands-on experience also gives you an insight into caveats about the product that might have been overlooked by the SME. Remember to do a self-review before moving to the next phase.

Review

Submit a draft of your content for SME review. Project stakeholders can also participate in the review. You might also be required to submit your content to an editor for review. Rewrite or update the content based on the feedback and get final approvals before moving to the next phase.

Deploy

Publish the approved content in the pre-approved channels. Since you received a sign-off from the stakeholders during the Design phase, this phase takes very little time to complete.

Maintain

Updating the document based on update requests or proactively by yourself as you gain a better understanding of the product or topic.

Points to remember about the DDLC phases

• The phases are not necessarily stop-gates where you cannot proceed to the next phase without completing the one before. Except for the Review phase.
• The phases can merge or occur in parallel depending upon the need. I will show you examples to help illustrate my point later in this article.
• The order of the phases might change based on need. For example, a document may be deployed before the review itself is complete if the need is urgent.
• Different authorities use different names or titles for the phases, but the underlying principle remains the same.

FAQs about DDLC

Conclusion

• DDLC in technical writing stands for Document Development Lifecycle.
• DDLC describes the natural and logical evolution of a document, right from its inception to deployment, and subsequent maintenance.
• Generally, there are six phases in the DDLC: Analyze > Design > Develop > Review > Deploy > Maintain.
• The names of the phases might vary based on the organization, but the underlying principle remains the same.
• As a beginner or entry-level technical writer, you must understand the DDLC very well.

I hope you found this article helpful. If you didn’t, then I would love to hear from you about what I can do to improve it. For more technical writing-related articles and resources, see the Technical Writing page. Also consider following my YouTube channel learntechnicalwriting, Reddit community r/learntechnicalwriting and Quora space Technical Writer | Technical Writing for more such content.

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