Why Your Documentation Is Still Stuck in Your Mum's Filing Cabinet

Documentation is still in your Mum's filing cabinet

I argue that our reliance on folder hierarchies is an outdated metaphor from the 1970s that fails how humans actually forage for information. Instead of forcing knowledge into single locations, we should build systems with multiple discovery paths using search, tags, and links. This approach not only helps people find answers faster but also aligns perfectly with how AI retrieves meaning through context and relationships rather than physical storage locations.

"The future of documentation isn't a bigger filing cabinet with better labels. It's a connected body of knowledge that can be discovered from multiple directions by both humans and machines."