✦ Task type · App and product testing
Assembly tests, filmed by the person doing the assembling
The people who wrote your instructions can already build the thing. That is the one qualification that disqualifies them from judging whether the instructions work.
Assembly instructions are written by people holding the finished object in their heads. Every ambiguity that survives review survives because the reviewer knew what the sentence was supposed to mean.
What to put in the public brief
- That a physical item will be shipped and assembled
- Rough build time and whether tools are needed
- That video of the whole build is required
- Whether they keep the item
- Any physical requirement, stated honestly
Keep the brand and product identity private, particularly pre-launch.
What to put in the private instructions
Send only what a customer gets
The box, the printed instructions, nothing else. No extra link, no explanation in the brief, no answering questions during the build. Every helpful addition destroys the test.
Ask them to set the camera and leave it
Wide enough to see hands, parts and instructions together. A tight shot loses the moment they look back at the diagram, which is the moment you are buying.
Ask them to talk through it
Especially the sentence "I think this goes here", which reliably precedes the mistake.
Ask them to keep going after an error
And to record what it took to undo. Recovery cost is the difference between a confusing step and a returned product.
Proof worth requiring
Ask for
The full build recording, total time, the step where they hesitated longest, and any tool they had to find.
Do not ask for
A rating of the instructions. Someone who finished will rate them fine, because they finished. The recording of minute nineteen is the finding.
When this task type is the wrong tool
If you already know which step fails, this is an expensive way to confirm it. Redraw that diagram and test the new version against the old one.
If the product arrives damaged rather than confusing, that is a delivery experience report or a packaging question, and it needs a different brief.
Common questions
How many people do I need?
Five is usually enough to find the step that defeats everyone. Assembly failures cluster hard: one diagram, one ambiguous fastener, one part that goes on backwards and cannot be reversed without starting again.
What reward is fair?
Thirty to eighty dollars plus the product, scaled to build time. You are buying an hour or more of concentrated effort plus the recording, and underpaying produces people who give up early and report that rather than working through it.
Should they have tools?
Ask, do not assume, and make it part of the brief. If assembly needs a tool not in the box, that is itself a finding, and the number of people who own a rubber mallet is smaller than product teams believe.
What if they assemble it wrong?
That is the most valuable outcome you can buy. Ask them to keep going rather than stopping, because what happens when a mistake is discovered four steps later is the thing your instructions most need to prevent.
Thinking of taking this task?
The same job, from the other side. Rewards are set by the poster, so treat these as the range this task type usually sits in rather than a promise.
- Usually pays
- $30 to $80 plus the product
- You need
- A delivery address, time to build, and a camera on a stand
- Proof expected
- Video of the whole build plus total time
Use only what came in the box. If you go wrong, keep going and record what undoing it took, because that is the most valuable part of the run.
Create a worker accountTest your instructions
Set the reward and how many builders you need. Workers reserve a spot before you ship; addresses and tracking stay private.
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