I paid people to try and follow my README

	I paid people to try and follow my README(shkspr.mobi)
	415 points by edent 2 days ago \| 203 comments
	tl;dr: The author paid people €25/hour to screen-share and think aloud while following his project's README, uncovering numerous blind spots like broken links, unexplained jargon, bad section ordering, and unfunny jokes that confused readers. He iteratively updated the docs after each session, spending about €150 total, and argues this beats using an LLM to simulate users because real humans provide authentic frustration cues and unique perspectives.
	HN Discussion: ↑Writing docs is hard due to author bias; even personal READMEs become incomprehensible quickly ↑READMEs commonly fail to explain what the software actually does, confirming the article's findings ~This is just rebranded usability testing or QA work, nothing novel ↓AI agents can effectively supplement or replace human testers for doc testing •Documentation should be treated like code with proper tooling and processes