Creating effective illustrations for pictorial assembly instructions

Peter Schumacher

Pictorial assembly instructions are a common element of many consumer products however there is very little research published about their design, particularly regarding the creation of effective illustrations. This paper reviews published work that offers best practice guidelines for the design of pictorial assembly instructions. The application of the guidelines is discussed in the context of a project to design assembly instructions for a flat pack wheelchair for distribution in developing countries. The paper will present findings from diagnostic testing with users in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: illustrations, pictorial assembly instructions, diagnostic testing

Published online: 16 October 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.15.2.01sch

Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Alexander, Kerstin, Andreas Schubert & Michael Meng

2016. Does detail matter? The effect of visual detail in line drawings on task execution. Information Design Journal 22:1 ► pp. 49 ff.

Parmentier, Davy D., Bram B. Van Acker, Jan Detand & Jelle Saldien

2020. Design for assembly meaning: a framework for designers to design products that support operator cognition during the assembly process. Cognition, Technology & Work 22:3 ► pp. 615 ff.

Torres-Sanchez, Carmen, Changxi Huang & Garry Steel

2016. Optimization of assembly instructions for a low-cost housing solution. Information Design Journal 22:1 ► pp. 32 ff.

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