How Novu improved their shipping velocity by 100% through restructuring its documentation process
Novu worked with Hackmamba to rebuild its documentation process. The new workflow made it easier for the team to update content and ship documentation with every feature release. As a result, Novu doubled its shipping speed and improved the overall developer experience.
Key outcomes
- Achieved a 100% increase in shipping velocity by aligning documentation with every feature release.
- Rewrote broken tutorials and streamlined onboarding processes.
- Restructured disorganized content into clear concepts, tasks, and references.
- Implemented a scalable documentation practice integrated into engineering processes.
- Reduced maintenance overhead by synchronizing docs and product updates.
About Novu
Novu is an open-source notification infrastructure that helps developers deliver reliable multi-channel notifications quickly. With APIs, SDKs, and integrations, Novu makes building notification systems simple and scalable.
- Industry: Software development
- Company Size: 11–50 employees
- Locations: Headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel
- Use Case: Developer onboarding, documentation restructuring, process design
- Products: Notification infrastructure, APIs, SDKs, integrations
The documentation gap
Novu’s documentation had grown without a clear structure. Tutorials and conceptual guides were interspersed with task instructions and reference materials, making it more difficult for developers to locate what they needed. There was also no defined process to ensure that updates shipped alongside new features.
Left unresolved, this would have meant longer onboarding times, increased support requests, and a community less certain about depending on the official docs.
Why Novu partnered with Hackmamba
Novu’s leadership needed clarity, speed, and partnership. Specifically:
- A clear documentation structure so developers could self-serve
- A workflow to ship docs in parallel with feature releases
- A partner who could work directly with engineers to embed docs in the release cycle
Hackmamba partnered with Novu to deliver those outcomes and to build a maintainable process that scales with the product.
Building structure and process
Working alongside Novu’s team, Hackmamba introduced a systematic approach to transform their documentation:
- Documentation audit: We identified broken tutorials, high-traffic endpoints that generated support tickets, and pages where concepts and tasks were mixed together.
- Content redesign: Tasks, references, and concepts were organized into distinct sections to minimize confusion.
- Tutorial rebuilds: We rewrote onboarding flows and end-to-end tutorials so they were accurate, testable, and easy to follow.
- Embedded in sprints: By joining standups and sprint planning, we produced documentation in parallel with feature development.
- Repeatable process: A release checklist was introduced, making documentation a requirement for feature acceptance.
- Team enablement: We trained Novu’s team on how to recognize well-structured docs and maintain the new system.
A 100% increase in shipping velocity
The breakthrough came when documentation was synchronized with product releases. Previously, features often shipped without supporting docs, leaving the documentation trailing by weeks. Now, every release is accompanied by updated documentation.
They accelerated our feature delivery while giving expert feedback on what works and what doesn’t– Dima Grossman, Co-founder and CTO, Novu
This alignment doubled Novu’s shipping velocity, ensuring developers get immediate access to guidance on new features while the product momentum stays uninterrupted.
The results
- Developers get instant access to documentation for new features.
- Onboarding friction is reduced and adoption accelerated.
- Novu’s team now operates with a sustainable process that keeps documentation current.
Working with Hackmamba is like having a 10x technical writer on your team.– Dima Grossman, Co-founder and CTO, Novu
Closing thoughts
If your docs lag behind your product, your developers face the same friction Novu once did. Hackmamba provides expert technical documentation services that helps teams align docs with product delivery, restructure content, and create a scalable processes. Let’s talk about how we can do the same for you.
