Would you build from a kit?

There have been many great projects published on element14 that were suitable for members to build, but there are very few who actually do. There have always been lots of hobbyists out there who want to build things. I think there are at least 2 or 3 gaps that prevent more uptake of good project builds:

There are large numbers of people that will build from kits, as proven by Ikea. Those customers would not design their own furniture, but they will buy a complete kit and assemble it. Having a complete kit available for purchase is a significant key to better uptake.
Build projects are not presented as DIY how-to instructions like Instructables. It is a whole separate project to turn a build project into a step-by-step build guide. Projects that come close to this on element14 have seen some uptake. For example PIK3A was the most popular build instruction I can remember and quite a few were built by members.
Marketing - of course there are many, many ways to bring awareness and incentivise build participation. element14 does some of this, but this has not been a big focus at element14.

Speaking for myself as a potential builder of someone else's design, I would buy and build a kit if it was a nice design that I would find useful or attractive. If the build project lacks a kit and I wanted to build the idea, I would most likely re-design it my own way, but it would need to be a much more attractive idea due to the time commitment involved. The result is I would be far more likely to build a project if there was a complete kit available for purchase.

The question for this poll is:

Would you be significantly more likely to build a project that was published on element14 if a complete kit of parts and software was available for purchase?

Please list other factors and requirements in the comments below.

Top Comments

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Gough Lui over 6 years ago
A very good discussion and I'll probably echo quite a few points already made, but before I get too far ahead of myself, I'd have to say that I absolutely love kits.

As an introduction to electronics, kits were the easy way in. Back then, in Australia, many started with the *** Smith Funway to Electronics series - myself included. Sure, there were theory textbooks, but the kits were what made things "real" and taught us by throwing into the deep end. Practical skills such as soldering, fault-finding/troubleshooting and circuit modification are not things that can be taught in an engaging way without something to build. It allowed me to pick up these skills even before I managed to design PCBs (which, I'm still in the process of doing) and spared me the inconvenience of chasing part/catalogue numbers, ordering bits, meeting minimum order quantities and hoping I didn't make some tiny insignificant mistake that would mean it wouldn't all come together at the end.

Now that I have advanced quite a bit from my "introductory" phase - guess what? I'm still fond of kits. To me, it's now turned into a nice weekend activity when I get the time and something reasonably priced turns up. Sure, most kits won't blow any decent mass manufactured product out of the water, nor will it be entirely too economical, and it comes with the caveat of "assembly skills required", but it's a good way to kill time and give that nice soldering iron a run. I find it relaxing to focus on a project like a kit - sometimes following instructions, making my own if there aren't any, just to brush up on my resistor colour code, through-hole soldering skills and perhaps challenge myself to a little surface mount along the way.

In fact, since the loss of *** Smith, I've ended up sourcing random low-cost Chinese eBay kits just to build for fun - I've still got a few in a drawer that I haven't had the time to document, but these are the ones I've built so far:
- https://goughlui.com/2016/09/28/project-reverse-eng-hex3653-av2b-stereo-fm-receiver-kit/
Of course, if you're setting up a kit, I'd hope it's of higher quality, with the correct components supplied and with proper instructions unlike some of these cheapies.

From my perspective, kits definitely have their appeal - for those who just "want the end result" but the item isn't something worth having mass manufacture of - a kit is a good way to distribute it effectively. For those who just want to occupy their weekend with a project - it's got its appeal. For those who might be a beginner who wants to learn a little from their mistakes or to get them comfortable with modifying circuits on PCBs rather than breadboards - also a great tool. For making the project "real" - along with its non-idealities, construction difficulties, burnt resistors/transistors ... these are experiences that are worth having and having a kit can make it just that much easier especially for projects with complex BOMs.

- Gough
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Gough Lui over 6 years ago
A very good discussion and I'll probably echo quite a few points already made, but before I get too far ahead of myself, I'd have to say that I absolutely love kits.

As an introduction to electronics, kits were the easy way in. Back then, in Australia, many started with the *** Smith Funway to Electronics series - myself included. Sure, there were theory textbooks, but the kits were what made things "real" and taught us by throwing into the deep end. Practical skills such as soldering, fault-finding/troubleshooting and circuit modification are not things that can be taught in an engaging way without something to build. It allowed me to pick up these skills even before I managed to design PCBs (which, I'm still in the process of doing) and spared me the inconvenience of chasing part/catalogue numbers, ordering bits, meeting minimum order quantities and hoping I didn't make some tiny insignificant mistake that would mean it wouldn't all come together at the end.

Now that I have advanced quite a bit from my "introductory" phase - guess what? I'm still fond of kits. To me, it's now turned into a nice weekend activity when I get the time and something reasonably priced turns up. Sure, most kits won't blow any decent mass manufactured product out of the water, nor will it be entirely too economical, and it comes with the caveat of "assembly skills required", but it's a good way to kill time and give that nice soldering iron a run. I find it relaxing to focus on a project like a kit - sometimes following instructions, making my own if there aren't any, just to brush up on my resistor colour code, through-hole soldering skills and perhaps challenge myself to a little surface mount along the way.

In fact, since the loss of *** Smith, I've ended up sourcing random low-cost Chinese eBay kits just to build for fun - I've still got a few in a drawer that I haven't had the time to document, but these are the ones I've built so far:
- https://goughlui.com/2016/09/28/project-reverse-eng-hex3653-av2b-stereo-fm-receiver-kit/
Of course, if you're setting up a kit, I'd hope it's of higher quality, with the correct components supplied and with proper instructions unlike some of these cheapies.

From my perspective, kits definitely have their appeal - for those who just "want the end result" but the item isn't something worth having mass manufacture of - a kit is a good way to distribute it effectively. For those who just want to occupy their weekend with a project - it's got its appeal. For those who might be a beginner who wants to learn a little from their mistakes or to get them comfortable with modifying circuits on PCBs rather than breadboards - also a great tool. For making the project "real" - along with its non-idealities, construction difficulties, burnt resistors/transistors ... these are experiences that are worth having and having a kit can make it just that much easier especially for projects with complex BOMs.

- Gough
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