The API documentation is what really jumps out to me: it's an absolute joy to read, and makes me feel that the developer actually respects me as a potential user. Thank you!
1. Doesn’t know anything about this particular subject yet.
2. Is probably very tired from whatever it is they’ve been doing. (Day job, raising kids, just general anxiety keeping them awake all night, etc.)
3. Might be drunk.
So I try to be plain in my language choices, calming when facing something with an aura of complexity (eg. “this thing that you heard is complex is really just a fancy name for these two simple elements combined”), consistent, and to present actual examples instead of everything just being an impenetrable brick of text.
(And then occasionally I break all my rules by throwing in hyperlinks to random tangents / hiding Missy Elliott lyrics in the code / whatevs.)