Best instructions

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I agree, sometimes even the simplest of tasks can be incredibly hard to describe for another to follow.

The last IKEA item I did was completely image driven, no writing but clear drawings of where each or the fixings needed to be.

I have had some horrible instructions too, impenetrable or incomplete. Or expecting lots from to builder. I recently built a model tank from a well known manufacturer. Every hole in the hull was accounted for, except one on each side plate which I wrote to the company about. Erm, that's a rain water drainage hole on the real tank, not meant for any fixings to go in. Oops did I feel daft?

Regards Mick

Having written instructions for industrial, military and domestic users the biggest problem I have found is the constraints placed by management and marketing of templates and conforming to the bad standards set by the previous set of instructions. Increasingly there is the problem of so many engineers in the UK not having English as their first language, or with some English born and bred their upbringing in front of the telly.

The best instructions used to be Meccano pictures. Why anyone needed the detailed written instructions I can't understand.

Commercial technical manuals these days are so full of caveats and advise to use gloves, boots, hard hats, not to drink the oil, wear ear defenders etc etc that extracting the actual information you really need is next to impossible! Sadly the expectation now is that the documentation will be used by a child, the office secretary or apprentice and not by a qualified technician that should already be aware of the safety considerations.

Paul.

I tried replacing some verbose (and therefore expensive as they required translation into eleven languages) assembly instructions with a completely pictorial "cartoon strip". The sales director vetoed it, complaining that it was "as bad as Ikea". Then I was told there was no longer a budget for translations...

Brian

.

If you have an iOS device ... download this: **LINK**

ENGINO kidCAD (3D Viewer) by Engino
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/engino-kidcad-3d-viewer/id962175208

Then browse down to the instructions for any of the kits

MichaelG.

When all else fails read the instructions.

Mike

Or, as the old saying goes, when all else fails, RTFM!

The US Military due to the low quality of some of their personnel would issue cartoon like service books. These always had some curvacious woman depicted giving instructions on how to carry out the work. They would show equipment in detail as a lne drawing itemizing the part in question. I have seen them for Tanks and Vehs. also aircraft etc. Also on handling artillery ammo. Detail was given in a, 'Balloon'. color emphasizing detail.

Haynes manuals - every job seems fairly straightforward in the manual but bears no resemblance to how difficult it is in practice.

I think the Airfix written instructions of the 1950s taught me an approach to technical English that I used to various extents for decades in adult life. I wrote many instruction manuals for specialist software over about 30+ years.

IKEA pictographic instructions are also usually pretty effective, but don't generally have to cope with multiple alternative operations with different selection criteria. But then neither did Airfix.

Hi Andrew, I find the Haynes manuals significantly less informative than they used to be when I first had a car. They really were the bee's knees' years ago but not so much now.

Regards Nick.

I was using my Haynes manual recently and tried to follow the instructions for removing the rear bumper of my Fiesta. Try as I might I could not complete the task, the last instruction just did not work. I must have spent an hour trying to complete that final instruction and then went for a break. On the off chance there might be something on youtube I fired up the computer and had a look. Bingo, there it was in great detail showing the subtle move needed for that final instruction. Back to the car and I had the bumper off in two minutes.

Doug

The now defunct magazine Motorcycle Mechanics always amused me. All their articles, with poor photographs, instructed you on how to dismantle gearboxes, engines etc. There was never the corresponding article on how to do the re-assembly.

I spent a lot of my working life writing technical reports and being sent on useless and irrelevant courses. I always believed the really useful course would be one that taught you how to write like a Sun journalist. This would have been of great use when dealing with chief engineers.