Use transparency to tell readers what they will gain, why your perspective matters, and what role your product plays. State the company purpose and reader payoff early; do not make readers hunt for either. section 13.6 section 5.4.2
Apply this quick test before publishing a product-oriented engineering post:
- Name the targeted topic and explain why it genuinely requires your engineering perspective. section 13.5.2
- Tell readers what they will experience, such as source code, explanations, or lessons they can apply. section 5.4.2
- Reveal the product’s role immediately, then remove unrelated capabilities, test results, and promotional material. section 13.5.2
- Prioritize distinctive behind-the-scenes details and support arguable claims with technical experience, experiments, or trusted industry knowledge. section 13.5.2
- Use honest, realistic language and cut buzzwords, superlatives, excessive adjectives, and extremes. section 13.5.2 section 13.6
Teach the theme before selling the product
A post about TigerBeetle can explain a complicated distributed consistency algorithm through gamification. Readers may not need a financial transaction database, but they can still learn a distributed-systems concept through the example. The product remains visible without becoming an unexpected sales pitch. section 13.5.2
