best way to write assembly instructions

[Graham Taylor]

Hi,

I need to write some assembly instructions, simillar to the Ikea instructions, for a product I have designed.

Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

Cheers,

Graham

[Ross Moshinsky]

Make a PDF with step by step instructions and by step by step, I mean it. Less words, more pictures. Most people use a combination of 3D CAD renderings and actual photos. If you don't have a 3D CAD program, actual pictures should work.

If you're really serious about it, make a YouTube video.

[Bert Kemp]

I very rarely find instructions to be all that helpful. I'm always saying to myself "did the idiot who wrote this try to follow his own instructions.
so my advice would be to write the instructions while your actually putting it together, step by step and leave nothing out no matter how simple you think it is. After you do that then take pictures of the process and and put corresponding words with the pictures. Then give it to tour wife or a neighbors wife and see if they can follow your instructions.Don't give it to a kid they can figure anything out LOL

[Dan Hintz]

I very rarely find instructions to be all that helpful. I'm always saying to myself "did the idiot who wrote this try to follow his own instructions.

This, or the writer/illustrator made unconscious assumptions because they designed or work with it every day.

Once you're done, hand it to someone who has never worked with your stuff before (wife? older kid?) and let them take a crack at it. If they encounter any issues, make a note of it and add a step.

[William Adams]

When doing the instructions for the ShapeOko 2, I found making the assembly diagrams interactive helped w/ hidden and obscured parts.

docs.shapeokodotcom

docs.shapeokodot..com/content/tPictures/PS20028-100.svg

[Graham Taylor]

Thanks for the advice. I have decided to assemble it and take some pics at various stages with a few words.

P.S. I know what you mean about the youth of today, I worked in technology all my life and designed the LAN and CATV networks for a few of the venues on the Olympic park for London 2012 but still have to ask my 12yr old nephew about this Facebook, Twitter and periscope malarkey.

[Clark Pace]

Thanks for the advice. I have decided to assemble it and take some pics at various stages with a few words.

P.S. I know what you mean about the youth of today, I worked in technology all my life and designed the LAN and CATV networks for a few of the venues on the Olympic park for London 2012 but still have to ask my 12yr old nephew about this Facebook, Twitter and periscope malarkey.

Make a short video!

[Paul Lawrence]

You can't just assemble it once and get meaningful output.

You have to be willing/prepared to keep assembling/disassembling many times until you get it right. Get in the mindset that it takes as much work to document something completely as it does to build it from scratch.

Documentation is not just the last step in construction. Most "instructions" that I've seen could benefit greatly if the documentation process were handled as well as the original design and/or construction process.

[Graham Taylor]

Make a short video!

Sadly I think I am more suited to radio than video :(

[Bert Kemp]

To Turn the computer off first press the START button:eek:

[Dennis Rech]

Hi,

I need to write some assembly instructions, simillar to the Ikea instructions, for a product I have designed.

Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

Cheers,

Graham

We prefer to do it with cartoons and a bit of text.
Always, one page for each step.
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Dennis

[William Adams]

I find video instructions annoying.

I’ve also lost count of the number of such which are not updated to correct errors which I’ve pointed out, or changes to parts.

Any set of instructions must be maintained in an editable form which allows for easy up-dating.

[Jeff Belany]

Find some guy in China or India who barely understands the English language. Seems like those are the guys who write the instructions I tend to get. (Just a JOKE, son)

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Prashun Patel]

Can't speak for China, but India has the the second highest number of English speakers in the world ;)

As for assembly instructions, Put a link to a Youtube video...

[Bill Cunningham]

Thanks for the advice. I have decided to assemble it and take some pics at various stages with a few words.

P.S. I know what you mean about the youth of today, I worked in technology all my life and designed the LAN and CATV networks for a few of the venues on the Olympic park for London 2012 but still have to ask my 12yr old nephew about this Facebook, Twitter and periscope malarkey.


Ha! That reminds me of this cartoon
329968

[Brett Luna]

Can't speak for China, but India has the the second highest number of English speakers in the world ;)

Is that English-English or Indian-English-English? Either can sound quite foreign to speakers of American-English and vice versa. Doubly so if the speaker is using Southern-American-English...like me. Bronx-American-English? Fuggedaboudit. :confused:

[Ian Johnson]

A scientist in India did some experiments where he would set up a computer in a hole in a wall and leave it for children to discover. He set one up in a remote rural village where no one spoke English, with a joystick and buttons for interface and a bunch of CDs. He left without telling anyone how to use it. When he came back 3 months later, the children told him they wanted a mouse and a faster processor.

[Brett Luna]

I find video instructions annoying.

I’ve also lost count of the number of such which are not updated to correct errors which I’ve pointed out, or changes to parts.

Any set of instructions must be maintained in an editable form which allows for easy up-dating.

Emphasis mine. That's the trick with instructions and its not so easy with video instructions. I'd recommend holding off on video until you have a stable, well tested set of written instructions.

When it's time to make the video, please...I'm begging you...please shoot with a decent and steadily held camera and good lighting. You might also consider writing a voice-over script. Some folks have a knack for on-camera commentary but others, most decidedly, do not. With voice-over, you can hash out exactly what you want to say, eliminate background noise, and minimize the ums, uhs, and dammits. You also won't have to re-shoot a perfectly performed assembly because you flubbed the on-camera commentary.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Is that English-English or Indian-English-English? Either can sound quite foreign to speakers of American-English and vice versa. Doubly so if the speaker is using Southern-American-English...like me. Bronx-American-English? Fuggedaboudit. :confused:

Believe me sometimes I have a great deal of trouble understanding English people speaking English.

"Wot U Up2"

"fam gonna go to a banging good film 2nite innit"

Usually a group of 19 year olds who you have just tried to explain the Lawson Criteria to and wondered why they just look mystified.

[Dan Hintz]

A scientist in India did some experiments where he would set up a computer in a hole in a wall and leave it for children to discover. He set one up in a remote rural village where no one spoke English, with a joystick and buttons for interface and a bunch of CDs. He left without telling anyone how to use it. When he came back 3 months later, the children told him they wanted a mouse and a faster processor.

Did he also leave a wireless connection so they could research what those things were? For kids who didn't know how to use a computer or what one was, they knew what upgrades were without ever seeing them?

There is a gigantic gap in this story... ;)

[William Adams]

There's a web site on it: http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/

as well as academic papers: http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/docs/Paper04.pdf

and news stories: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/thestory.html

and http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/computer-in-delhi-slum-wall-leads-to-million-dollar-ted-prize-514639

[Dan Hintz]

Just outside his office is a wall that separates his air-conditioned 21st-century office from a slum. Mitra decided to place a high-speed computer in the wall, connect it to the Internet, and watch who, if anyone, might use it.
That answers my questions...

[Ian Johnson]

Here's the anecdote I was referencing. The interesting thing is that not only do children tend to teach adults, but the younger kids were teaching older kids.


So we thought that this is what was happening:that children in groups can self-instruct themselvesto use a computer and the Internet. But under what circumstances?At this time there was a -- the main question was about English.People said, you know, you really ought to have this in Indian languages.So I said, have what, shall I translate the Internetinto some Indian language? That's not possible.So, it has to be the other way about.But let's see, how do the children tackle the English language?I took the experiment out to northeastern India,to a village called Madantusi,where, for some reason, there was no English teacher,so the children had not learned English at all.And I built a similar hole-in-the-wall.One big difference in the villages, as opposed to the urban slums:there were more girls than boys who came to the kiosk.In the urban slums, the girls tend to stay away.I left the computer there with lots of CDs -- I didn't have any Internet --and came back three months later.So when I came back there, I found these two kids,eight- and 12-year-olds, who were playing a game on the computer.And as soon as they saw me they said,"We need a faster processor and a better mouse."(Laughter)I was real surprised.You know, how on earth did they know all this?And they said, "Well, we've picked it up from the CDs."So I said, "But how did you understand what's going on over there?"So they said, "Well, you've left this machinewhich talks only in English, so we had to learn English."So then I measured, and they were using 200 English words with each other-- mispronounced, but correct usage --words like exit, stop, find, save, that kind of thing,not only to do with the computer but in their day-to-day conversations.So, Madantusi seemed to show that language is not a barrier;in fact they may be able to teach themselves the languageif they really wanted to.

[Mel Fulks]

I've had to make sketches and instructions for the installation of custom millwork. Biggest problem has been carpenters with their own ideas of design NOT READING them. Then it's "you didn't make enough of this" and you made too much of that". I've had to tell some "I'm the DESIGNER you're the NAIL IT UPPER. Look At the Layout!!!" I would start the instructions with a warning that nothing will be replaced that has been altered or cut too short.