🤫 The Silent Career Killer #18
The "Over-Documentation" Trap | Unmasking 50 hidden threats to your UX career | part 18 of 50
My dear UX friends, today's story starts with an email that probably rings true for some of you:
"I'm one of the most experienced UX designers at my company… and I think I'm shooting myself in the foot.
I pride myself on always preparing very thorough documentation - detailed user flows, comprehensive research findings, extensive design rationales.
But lately, I've noticed stakeholders' eyes glazing over in presentations.
My manager even mentioned that while my work is definitely solid, I need to be more “strategic” in my communication.
I'm frustrated because I put so much effort into showing my work, but it seems to be having the opposite effect. What am I doing wrong? What do I do to fix it?"
Have you spotted the problem yet? Because if not remedied in time it may turn into a career trap.
I call this one the “Over-Documentation Trap”.
You're doing more work to show your work, but somehow becoming less visible in the process.
Let me share why this happens and how to fix it. But first, let’s understand why it’s a problem.
📑 The Hidden Cost of “Over-Documentation”
Documentation isn't communication. It's just raw material.
Think of it like cooking.
You wouldn't serve your guests raw ingredients and expect them to appreciate your culinary skills, right?
Yet that's exactly what we do when we dump our thorough (but overwhelming) documentation on stakeholders!
3 Traps of Over-Documentation
🪤 The "Cover All Bases" Trap
You include every detail to show thoroughness
Reality: Key insights get buried in details
Impact: Stakeholders miss your strategic thinking
🪤 The "Prove Your Work" Trap
You document extensively to justify decisions
Reality: Process overshadows outcomes
Impact: Your strategic value becomes invisible
🪤 The "Perfect Process" Trap
You create perfect documentation systems
Reality: Systems become more important than results
Impact: You're seen as tactical, not strategic
But more importantly - excessive documentation is actively shaping how others perceive your strategic value, and NOT in the way you might think.
👀 The Perception Problem
When you over-document, you're inadvertently telling a story about yourself - and it's probably not the story you want to tell.
Think about it:
What happens when you share that 20-page research report or that meticulously detailed user flow documentation?
Your stakeholders don't see thoroughness.
They see someone who:
❌ Can't separate signal from noise
❌ Might be hiding behind process rather than driving outcomes
❌ Is more comfortable with details than strategy
❌ Hasn't developed the judgment to know what matters most
In other words, they see a tactician (NOT a strategist).
📉 The Negative Career Impact
This perception has real consequences:
You get pulled into tactical discussions rather than strategic planning
Your input is sought on "how" decisions, not "why" decisions
You're seen as someone who executes rather than someone who shapes direction
Promotion conversations focus on your craft skills rather than your strategic impact
One of my mentees put it perfectly: "I was documenting myself into a corner."
The Root of the Problem
Here's what's really happening:
😩 The Expertise Curse
As UX professionals, we're trained to be thorough
We see nuance and complexity in everything
We want others to understand this depth
But in trying to show everything, we end up showing nothing
😩 The Process Comfort Zone
Documentation feels productive and safe
It's concrete, measurable, completable
But strategic impact often comes from messy, incomplete conversations
We're optimizing for completeness when we should be optimizing for impact
😩 The Validation Trap
We use documentation to prove our value
But strategic leaders prove their value through outcomes and influence
Documentation becomes a security blanket rather than a tool
The Transformation You Need
The shift you need to make isn't about doing less documentation. But about changing your relationship with documentation entirely.
👉 From:
❌ Documentation as proof of work
❌ Documentation as a security blanket
❌ Documentation as a process endpoint
👉 To:
✅ Documentation as a strategic tool
✅ Documentation as a conversation starter
✅ Documentation as a bridge to bigger impact
This means developing new instincts about:
🌟 What truly needs to be documented
🌟 When documentation is helping vs. hindering
🌟 How to use documentation to elevate your strategic presence
🌟 The Strategic Documentation Framework
Here's how to make documentation work FOR your career, not against it.