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Comment by Grustaf | Hacker News Reader

If they made an AR app that helped impractical customers assemble their products that would be real news.

It's crazy that in 2021 they still don't have videos of how to assemble their furniture. I mean, it couldn't be that they charge you for assembly service...

I don’t think videos would help. Their instructions are already exceptionally well made, and I’ve yet to see any IKEA furniture that is hard to assemble.

Maybe for you. Not everyone is so mechanically inclined, or can understand instructions well.

Maybe it’s because I’m Swedish. ;)

Yeah i think most people simply don’t want to try, or they are certain they wouldn’t be able to.

But even if the instructions are very clear, videos could make it more approachable to people.

I have assembled several pieces. From my limited experience, there always seemed one step that was a little hard to get right, whether because of angles, or tight space, or having to hold something else in place while screwing. Other than the one tricky step, everything else was pretty easy.

Free tip: Get a powered screwdriver before you start. It will definitely be worth the investment.

For chests of drawers I certainly recommend powered screwdrivers (IKEA sell cheap, and for this particular use, adequate powered screwdrivers). On the other hand, are you assembling some Ivar shells there’s hardly any screws.

Life without a small power drill/electric screwdriver combo is hardly worth living. Even in an apartment you need it all the time...

+1000 to the powered screwdriver or small cordless drill. I've been putting together a lot of furniture recently, and with RSI all the screwdriving is murder on my hands; it makes all the difference to avoid this type of repetitive strain.

To add to what you said, every time I have bought furniture from someone other than IKEA that needs to be assembled, I've missed IKEA's clear instructions.

Oh yes! I’ve from time to time strayed from buying IKEA furniture with the thought that since I can afford it I should get something nicer. But whenever I pay something like 2-3 times as much as I would for some equivalent IKEA piece, the quality is usually worse and the instructions horrendous.

To really get better quality I need to pay something like 5-10 times as much as IKEA prices, and that it is rarely worth.

No, just get vintage furniture. Even if you go for top quality in great condition, it's not going to be 10 times more than IKEA, and it will last forever. Not to mention it won't look like crap.

But some pieces can mess you up with orientation. Is that long board symmetrical or not? If you missed that there are three small dots at the left end of the diagram and two on the right, you'll probably install it backwards.

It's happened to the best of us. If you've ever built a LEGO kit and been off by one stud somewhere early in the project, you'll know the feeling.

I don’t know how long it was since you put together any IKEA furniture, but even things like these are hard to miss nowadays. I don’t know how and if they tests their instructions, but they seem to know quite well what kind of mistakes people tend to do and adapt their instructions accordingly.

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