Why product teams need an internal knowledge hub
Last updated: March 2024
Where are the team meeting notes from last week? What about the SWOT analysis from your annual planning session? Or that really compelling pricing research a teammate recently completed? If you are like most product teams, these items live in different places. You bounce between bookmarks, "favorites" folders, and disconnected tools to find them. And often, you cannot. (It is really frustrating.)
This is why product teams are increasingly on the hunt for a "single source of truth" — one tool that can hold team documentation, meeting notes, collaborative whiteboards, the product roadmap, and even team to-dos. Our own team at Aha! was looking for the same — it is why we built an internal knowledge hub that is seamlessly integrated into our software suite. Not only does this save time and hassle, but it empowers everyone to think more creatively, capture bold ideas, and refine concepts together in one central hub.
Yes, we built an internal knowledge hub and are writing about why you need one. But whether or not you choose our tools, we hope to offer insights on what to look for in a solution and how to incorporate it into your existing workflows.
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What is an internal knowledge hub?
An example of an internal knowledge hub created with Aha! software
When we say "internal knowledge hub," we mean a central place to create and organize team documentation. Think of it as a replacement for a digital notebook or outdated wiki. In the case of Aha! software, our knowledge hub comes with rich formatting options, drawing capabilities, pre-built templates, and collaborative whiteboards. Features like guest access and live editing support real-time and asynchronous collaboration alike.
A knowledge hub is a great place to store any reference materials that the team needs access to. But it is also an excellent way to bridge unstructured and structured work. For example, in Aha! software you can embed a whiteboard into a note during a team brainstorming session. Teammates can add and move around sticky notes (and other elements) on the board. Once ideas begin to formalize into real plans, you can convert the sticky notes into real work items on your roadmap.
Consolidating product docs in a knowledge hub
We know what you might be thinking — do I really need another tool? If your existing product documentation is scattered across emails, spreadsheets, and file-sharing systems (that your team barely uses as it is), the idea of expanding your tool stack might raise eyebrows. But let's think about this differently.
Ideally, a knowledge hub replaces tools you already have, while offering the same functionality and then some. No more separate logins or tabs just to get to your meeting notes. No more lost whiteboard sessions or stale product wikis that no one references.
This means your knowledge hub becomes the go-to internal resource for all there is to know about your product — how you make decisions, how you work together, and everything that goes into delivering value to customers. In that sense, it is both a repository and a forum, encouraging the team to be more organized, collaborative, and accountable throughout the product-building process.
The bulk of your day-to-day product work — think roadmapping, feature prioritization, and release planning — will continue to happen in your roadmapping tool. Your knowledge hub is a space for ideation, documentation, and stakeholder alignment. (The benefit of choosing Aha! software is that knowledge capture and roadmapping capabilities are included together.)
The following table includes ideas on how to incorporate knowledge capture at each stage of product development:
Product development stage | Use cases for knowledge capture |
Strategy | Get started with early-stage strategic planning — ideating on your vision, product positioning, and goal frameworks before solidifying strategy. |
Research | Organize and store findings from competitive analysis, customer research, and market trends. |
Ideation | Host brainstorming sessions with the team or map out new product concepts and diagrams on a whiteboard. |
Planning | Draft a product requirements document and create first-draft roadmaps before building out formalized product plans. |
Design | Collect sketches, wireframes, and mockups from design iterations. |
Development | Facilitate high-level sprint planning and capture notes from retrospective discussions. |
Analysis | Share performance metrics, KPIs, and progress against goals with stakeholders. |
Teamwork | Centralize meeting agendas and document team processes. |
Related:
How to choose a knowledge hub for your product team
You want a tool that will help guide you toward creating high-quality product documentation and function as a collaborative space. Bonus points if it is purpose-built for product management teams.
This is why Aha! software is our recommendation (no surprise). That said, we think it is always a good idea to do your research before adopting new product tools for your team.
Here is a quick checklist of what to look for as you evaluate knowledge hubs or internal wikis:
Rich formatting options to add color, style, and structure to documents
Built-in whiteboards to allow for visual thinking within the same tool
Collaboration capabilities such as comments, reactions, and document sharing to foster frictionless teamwork
Productivity features like to-do lists for easy task management
Efficient organization via folders and search functionalities that let you find information quickly
Pre-built templates to kickstart your thinking (and ideally, templates tailored specifically for product development work)
(Bonus) AI tools like writing assistants that can expedite the drafting process
(Bonus) Roadmap integration that allows you to connect documents and whiteboards to related features and releases
Once you have selected a knowledge hub, consolidating all of your product docs can take upfront planning and meaningful effort. (If you happen to be switching from Confluence, Aha! provides a document importer.) You will also need to plan, organize, and create a documentation system that works well for you. But in time, everyone will benefit from the improved access and alignment that comes with keeping everything in one place.
