Meet the Creator
The story behind Manualize and why documentation should be effortless
Jackie Johnson-Dallas
Creator of Manualize
Why I Built Manualize
Hi! I'm Jackie Johnson-Dallas, and I created Manualize because I was tired of seeing great teams struggle with terrible documentation.
As a Software Engineer, Web Developer, and Cloud Engineer with 5 years in the IT field, I've seen it all. I've worked at companies where critical deployment processes lived only in someone's head. I've inherited codebases with zero documentation. I've watched new team members struggle for days to understand something that could have been explained in a simple, well-written guide.
My time in the Air Force taught me the importance of clear, reliable procedures. In the military, lives can depend on following the right process. But in the tech world, I found that documentation was often an afterthought—something we all knew we should do but nobody wanted to actually sit down and write.
The truth is: I hate writing documentation too. It's tedious, time-consuming, and never feels as important as shipping the next feature. But I also know how much pain bad documentation causes—for teams, for new hires, and for future-me trying to remember why I built something a certain way.
"As a husband and father of 3 who values his time, I believe work should be efficient. If I can turn a 2-hour documentation task into a 2-minute one, that's more time I get to spend with my family."
The Solution: Make It Stupid Simple
Manualize was born from a simple insight: people don't hate documenting processes—they hate the process of documentation.
When you explain something to a colleague, you don't struggle to find words. You just tell them what to do. But when you sit down to "write documentation," suddenly it becomes this formal, intimidating task that feels like writing a term paper.
So I built Manualize to bridge that gap. Just describe your process like you're explaining it to a teammate, and get professional documentation that actually looks good and makes sense.
My Goal is Simple:
- 1.Make documentation so easy that teams actually do it
- 2.Create docs so clear that people actually use them
- 3.Save developers time for what they do best: building things
- 4.Help teams share knowledge instead of hoarding it
What Drives Me
Efficiency Over Perfection
As a husband, father, and developer I value my time. If something can be automated or simplified, it should be. Perfect documentation that takes forever is worse than good documentation that gets done.
Built for Real Teams
I design for teams who are shipping products under pressure, not perfect scenarios. Real teams need docs that work when you're tired, stressed, or onboarding someone new.
Ship First, Document Fast
My military background taught me that good processes matter, but my startup experience taught me that speed matters too. Manualize is built for teams who move fast.
Knowledge Should Be Shared
Too many teams lose knowledge when people leave. Good documentation isn't just helpful—it's insurance against becoming dependent on any one person.