Martina Hartmann

Documentation is treated as a service, something tacked on at the end. I see it differently. Anyone who develops information makes strategic decisions: about what matters, how it’s organized, and who it’s for.

That’s why I don’t see myself as a writer who delivers text, but as an information developer who makes knowledge accessible. Clarity isn’t simplification. It’s precision.

AI is part of that for me, and not as a buzzword. I work with it hands-on and think about it strategically: How is it changing our field, which tasks are shifting, what can sensibly be automated? What interests me most are the questions that remain: What belongs in human hands? Where do our judgment, our experience, our responsibility lie?

What doesn’t change in all this: structure, language, and relevance aren’t matters of taste, they’re decisions. I make them deliberately, especially where things get complicated.

Skills & Expertise.

For me, technology and language aren't opposites, but two sides of the same work. I structure complex content, pick the tools that fit the problem, and use AI where it genuinely helps, not because everyone else does. I also find my way into new domains quickly without losing the thread. A few of my focus areas:

• Information architecture: structuring, standardizing, thinking in modules.
• Documentation for software, IT, and information security.
• AI in documentation: LLM workflows, context engineering, clean terminology.
• DITA, markup languages, and a solid foundation in Python and SQL.
• Docs-as-code: documentation that lives in Git workflows and is maintained like software.
• Professional communication in German and English.

Strengths & Interests.

What defines me doesn't stop at the professional. How I approach a task has just as much to do with curiosity and care as with a few passions that, at first glance, have nothing to do with documentation. And yet they're exactly what shapes my perspective. A few of them:

• Technical puzzles I can't leave alone.
• Genuine curiosity about IT trends, out of interest, not obligation.
• Riding motorcycles and wrenching on them myself, with as much passion as safety awareness.
• Structure and planning, well beyond work too.
• Being outdoors: watching wildlife, skiing.
• Coffee with standards: selected beans, roasted myself, from fruity-sweet to chocolatey-bold and fairly paid for rather than mass-market.

Thought Pieces.

Reflections on professional growth and personal interests, from technical deep-dives to broader perspectives. Explore the latest pieces here, or browse the full archive →

Technically Correct, Practically Useless.
◆ Beyond Buzzwords

Documentation often inherits the developer’s perspective — untranslated, unquestioned, just passed along. This isn’t a writing problem. It’s a translation problem.

When Help Gets in the Way.
◆ Beyond Buzzwords

The problem isn’t too little information — it’s too much of the wrong kind. Three scenarios that show why complete and helpful are two very different things.

Garbage In, Garbage Out:
Seven Myths About LLMs—and What's Really Behind Them.

Poor results from LLMs almost always share the same root cause: wrong expectations, missing context, unclear prompts. The problem isn’t the technology. It’s how we use it.