You've just spent the last 3 hours assembling your new IKEA BjornSmjorgnLorganLightnUppen, only to discover the legs are attached incorrectly, the end results look only remotely related to the showroom sample, and you've got a worrisome amount of extra bolts, hinted by the wobbly finish threatened by even the most gentle of breaths. You swore you followed the directions perfectly (again), but that stupid smiling instruction manual blobby dude makes it clear you most certainly didn't follow directions correctly. Sound familiar?
The problem with most any build-it-yourself furniture piece of moderate construction is the instruction manuals can only do a fair job at best communicating the physical connections and installation procedures needed in assembling anything beyond installing a light bulb. Three dimensional instructions are easily lost in translation on a piece of paper, as anyone knows while trying to "look around the corner" of a 2D illustration; the process undoubtedly ends up being a furniture-building Kama Sutra of sorts, with an inordinate amount of sweating, dirty language and plenty of guesswork of "let's try putting this in here...no there!", except this manual would be filled with positions labeled with names such as, "Upside Down Ratchet" or "Falling Washer, Rising Temper".
The how-to video network, Howcast, recently pitched an innovative (and arguably no-brainer) hi-tech solution to IKEA for this common dilemma for the build-your-own marketplace. Smart phones are as common as LACK bookshelves, and by utilizing QR Codes (matrix barcodes that can direct smart phones and computers to specific websites/media sources) the clarity of instruction manuals could be fortified with embedded videos specifically illustrating how to correctly assemble Part A with Part B, reducing a lot of the guesswork usually involved with putting together your own furniture. Seems like a perfect solution that should improve the quality of both the customer's experience and also the durability of the product they put together. Watch Howcast's sample video pitch below:
(Photo used for photo illustration top: Flickr member Fuschia Foot licensed for use under Creative Commons)
[via Mashable]
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
Love.
Yep.. this is simply a brilliant idea and is most likely the way of the future as we begin to further integrate analog systems like paper printing with digital media like video and interactive programs. The QR codes are doing an excellent job at beginning to bridge that divide.
I avoid IKEA like the plague, but if you need stuff put together, just pay someone to do it. Saves lots of aggravation.
I really don't understand how someone could have a hard time with Ikea instructions as they are today. They are some of the best designed and easy to follow guides I have ever seen. Do what each picture says, and don't jump ahead. And do it right, the furniture is solid and will last for years.
I've built plenty of Ikea pieces in my lifetime. Nearly all of their instructions were easy to follow. The only piece that was truly difficult to assemble was the 5x5 Expedit bookcase. The damn thing weighs a ton and the instructions are simply wrong. There are better instructions online.
Yeah. I really don't get how people don't get ikea instructions.
There's a whole industry of people whose job is to assemble IKEA furniture, both officially via IKEA and also freelance contractors. Working with their team in the past, even some of their own staff needed additional help assembling some of the units, especially the very large, complex storage/wall unit types.
Here's an amusing series of ads related to the topic: http://www.theinspiration.com/2010/07/ikea-assembly-service-by/
As much as I hate IKEA crap and as many times as I've sworn never to have any, I got tired of looking at consignment and thrift shops for a desk and bit into the numerous AT posts for the IKEA Melltorp. And since it was so nicely photographed with a Helmer cabinet, I got one of those too. Very carefully following the instructions, I got to the nearly final step of inserting the drawers. It turned out I'd assembled the drawer supports so carefully ... upside down. It's sitting in my dumpster area with a note for someone to take it home and fix it. The table's still in the box. I'm a little scared.
Just get it back in, EllenKim - we learn from our experiences! (Next time you will pay more attention to whether something is the right way round - and you'll see, if you disamble your Helmer and then put it back together, it will so much quicker, because you already know what goes where.)
Having said that, I know that I shouldn't try to build up Ikea furniture in a rush, because one has to look closely at the instructions, but with time and more Ikea pieces it becomes easier because you just know what the different strangely formed pieces of metal are and what to do with them.
And yes, I have already put in new drawers into my Pax today and taken out and disassembled the old shoe organizer! Calmly and serenely ;)
Overall, Ikea instructions suck! Which doesn't keep me from going back as it's all I can afford & I love the stuff.