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.