One of the most popular robots at FLLCasts is the SUV Box Robot. Looking at how one user has followed the instruction we can make certain conclusions. This article is about these conclusions and how they help the authors build better assembly instructions.
The data
It looks like this. The step number on the Y and the time on the X.
What we see?
1. The user has worked on this robot before.
Probably yesterday or in the morning. They start assembling from step 60.
This means that users are building a single robot in more than one day.
2. Some steps take longer – probably people are searching for parts
As you see the user stays on step 87 for quite some time. When you look at it, it makes sense. On step 87 we ask to user to find a medium motor and it takes them some 10-15 minutes to find the motor. Probably they have it, but on another construction and they must first disassemble this other construction.
3. There is something not clear after step 133
You can see how the user returns and quickly looks back at the previous steps.
It is particularly interesting what is not clear.
Here is step 137
Here is step 102
As you can see they are similar. They are almost like the same step. So when the user has reached step 137 they are like
Hey, I’ve already build that!
So they return back to see and have a clear picture of what exactly are they doing.
Turns out that on step 102 they start assembling the right side of the robot, while on step 137 they start assembling the left side of the robot.
Here are the picture
Right side
Left side
What we know is that users are paying attention 🙂 and they are not blindly following steps.
4. “I must know what happens into the future”
We think this is the impatience syndrome. Just a few steps forward very quest and then return back.
What happens on step 153?
I guess you already know the answer. The user starts assembling a new module.
Here is step 153 where the module starts
Here is step 176 where the module ends.
The user just wants to check what will happen with this module. Where would it go and how it would look like in the overall picture.
5. Some steps show the parts clearly. Other steps require the user to rotate
You can see the region to the left how it has no dots. When a step has a dot this means the user has rotate the camera with the mouse to see things from different angles. The steps in the first region are very clear. The steps in the second region- not so much.
6. The user finishes the build in 02 h 24 m. We know how long it takes.
Conclusion
You should never make a conclusion based on a single assembly. But when we map many assemblies over each other we start to see patterns and to understand how, as authors, to make things easier for the user even when assembling 220 steps robots.
Do you want to start gathering data for your assembly instructions? Create 3D assembly instructions from your PDFs.
Here is the robot for you to enjoy. (you must have an FLLCasts subscription)
SUV Competition Box Robot from LEGO Mindstorms EV3