How can you communicate game mechanics documentation to stakeholders unfamiliar with game design?

It's essential to use clear, concise language and visual aids. Start by providing an overview of the game mechanics in simple terms, avoiding jargon and technical language. Use diagrams, flowcharts, or infographics to illustrate how different mechanics interact and contribute to the overall gameplay experience. Provide examples or scenarios to demonstrate how players will engage with each mechanic and what outcomes they can expect. Break down complex concepts into digestible chunks and intuitively organize the documentation. Encourage them to ask questions to ensure their understanding. Additionally, consider conducting a walkthrough to guide them through the documentation and address any concerns or uncertainties they may have.

Unless it is a very low level document, design documents should be easily understandable by anyone. It’s important. If it is hard to read, it’s a bad design document anyway. Unfamiliar terms should be expanded upon and the document should be structured well and if there’s anything that can be better understood through illustrations or diagrams. Be sure to do so, nobody wants to read pages and pages of text. When it comes to your actual text, phrases and keywords, be sure to keep them consistent and not too similar. Using words that are too similar for different things creates confusion and not always calling the same thing the same word will just wake readers feel lost.

Whenever you create documentation, one thing to keep in mind is that it's not always the technical people that will be referring to the same. For that it's important to be clear what you proposed during the project, what mechanics were executed and what steps were followed. The more understandable the format and words are, the better the document will be. If there are any specific terms, explain them for reference which will make it easier.

Some apps make this so easy to do. Structure your design document with sections and if needed, include a contents bar that will take you to the different sections. Nobody wants to read and entire document looking for what they need each time. Make it easy to navigate. Different sections will allow readers to skim though the document looking for the exact area they are looking for and then get the information they need.

Design documents will need to be updated, through design iteration or feedback on the document itself. Keeping it updated will be important so that everyone else on the team knows where to find the most up to date version of its design. Allowing people to leave comments on the doc itself will be helpful for feedback, problem solving and design discussion.