Docs, Design, and Data: The Solo Architect’s Toolkit

In this session, Sowjenya shared her journey as the first documentation hire at Funnel, exploring the unique challenges and creative solutions that come with building a documentation function from the ground up, without the comfort of a traditional CMS or off-the-shelf tooling.

From collaborating with AI teams to writing prompts that surface directly in product chat, Sowjenya walked through the systems, experiments, and lessons behind delivering great product content as a team of one.

Key Takeaways

1. Start Building Systems Before You Write

Before diving into content creation, invest time in understanding your business, stakeholders, and how your content will be used. This holistic perspective helps you create more impactful documentation.

2. Embrace Hybrid Docs-as-Code Workflows

If your current tools aren’t built for documentation, get creative! Sowjenya shared how she combined GitHub, Cursor, and APIs to streamline her workflow and reduce formatting headaches.

3. Create Self-Healing Documentation

Instead of racing against time to update out-of-date content, set up automated systems that detect UI changes and notify you immediately, before your customers encounter issues.

4. Treat Your Content as an API

Build reusable terminology guides, style guides, and templates that other teams can consume programmatically. This creates consistency and saves time across the organization.

5. Use AI to Measure Content Performance

Leverage internal AI tools and RAG solutions to track relevancy scores and gather user feedback, then continuously improve your documentation based on data.

6. Don’t Wait to Be Invited, Take the Spotlight

Proactively reach out to stakeholders, get invited to conversations early, and own your visibility. Your expertise is needed from day one.

About the Speaker

Sowjenya Parthasarathy is the first technical writer at Funnel, where she is building the company’s documentation systems from the ground up. With over 11 years of experience across product documentation, content design, and content strategy, Sowjenya thrives at the intersection of clarity, collaboration, and creativity. She is passionate about user-first content design and helping teams deliver product experiences that are both intuitive and impactful.