2. Beyond Our Expertise

*This is the English version of a previously published article.What It Means for a Technical Writer to Be a Product OwnerEarlier, I broke down the work of Technical Writers (TWs) at Toss into four areas. The first was building products. But what does it actually mean for a TW to build a product? Let me start with my own experience.I currently lead a product team called the Knowledge System Team. I work alongside developers, designers, and TWs to set the direction of our products and decide on our roadmap and priorities. I interview users directly and bring those insights back to the team. I plan features and sometimes build them myself using AI tools. In other words, I’m not simply someone who communicates documentation-related requirements. I work as a Maker who makes product decisions and helps build the product itself.So why are TWs building products?It comes down to what our product is fundamentally about: documentation and knowledge. TWs have spent years thinking deeply about questions like why some documents are difficult to read, what makes a good document, and how information should be structured so that AI can use it effectively. Over time, we’ve developed our own standard...