This Grapevine duo built an app that tackles the worst part of a purchase: Assembly required
From that cherished Christmas present to a crib for the newest member of the family, folks the world over have gone through this experience. It looks so fantastic in the photo on the box or in the display.
But then, you get it home and the “assembly required” part of the process begins. It is also when the frustration begins, as what we thought would be a few minutes winds up taking into the wee morning hours.
If only there were a way to simplify the process. Actually, someone has BILT such a way, as in the BILT app, designed to make assembly easier and more.
“We’re innovating instructions the way Google Maps revolutionized driving directions,” said Nate Henderson, the founder of the BILT app and the company’s CEO.
It all started in 2012 when a sales executive named Chris Klayko at SAP software company was attempting to assemble a sandbox for his toddlers. While the product was high quality, the paper instructions that came with it, not so much. This underscored a job to be done: create a better, easier and faster way to put things together.
He’d seen 3D instructions in use in the aerospace industry and wondered if they could be created for consumer products. So, he bought a $40 IKEA table and found the computer aided design online and asked his engineering colleagues to create the first set of 3D interactive instructions.
In 2013, Henderson’s team developed the beta version of the mobile app inside SAP’s Innovation and User Experience Design incubator. But Henderson realized early on that the platform could not thrive inside the software giant and he began working on a plan to buy the assets and spin out.
He got 54 rejections before finally securing permission to buy the app from SAP in 2015. Henderson then reached out to his childhood friend Ahmed Qureshi, a serial entrepreneur, and together they founded BILT Incorporated, based in Grapevine, in 2016.
Henderson and Qureshi grew up together overseas and attended college and business school together.
Making things simpler
In layman’s terms, BILT makes setup, a traditionally terrible experience, doable and even fun. Now, millions of BILT users in more than 170 countries have downloaded 3D guides for thousands of products from hundreds of brands for assembly, installation, maintenance and repair.
And it’s absolutely free to users, both professional technicians and do-it-yourselfers alike. BILT doesn’t allow advertising or those annoying pop-ups. Downloading BILT is easy from the App Store or Google Play.
The service is paid for by the participating brands who want to empower their customers with an easier experience.
“Unlike paper manuals that are often poorly written or badly translated, BILT designers create digital 3D instructions while going through the project themselves. Their expertise is geared toward user-friendliness,” Qureshi explained.
The designers work with product managers to monitor difficult steps and make updates in near-real time.
“Every product angle, every movement I animate is to give the customer a better experience. They’re always top of mind,” said Matt Ohnesorge, BILT senior designer.
To do this, designers go through every assembly, installation, maintenance and repair step-by-step. They experience all the pain points from wrap rage to leftover part anxiety. They use the brand’s printed and video instructions as a baseline and discover the stumbling blocks. Then they fix them, so users don’t have to stumble behind them.
“I think there’s a misconception that BILT designers must be amazing at following 2D directions, but that’s not the case. We make mistakes, too, as we go through the process,” said Stephanie Raptis, BILT lead designer. “If BILT wanted engineers, they would have hired engineers. But engineers wrote the 2D instructions, and that’s where a lot of the problems come into play.”
The app also makes for a safer experience, thanks largely to fewer frustrations. First-time errors are much less, as is the need for call-backs to technicians.
BILT users can rotate images 360 degrees, zoom in and out, and tap on a part or tool for details. Unlike YouTube videos, BILT is not limited to a single camera angle, and you don’t constantly have to rewind, each step is self-paced.
Users can turn on voice and text prompts to accompany the animated images, instantly replay each step, and easily skip forward or back.
User reviews
At the end of each project, users can leave a rating and review and register the product. Many have done so and the messages have been overwhelmingly positive.
“I could not have assembled this equipment without these audio and visual, step-by-step instructions! What a wonderful app! I’m a 73-year-old woman, and I did it!” wrote Dot in a message to the company after assembling a recumbent cross trainer.
“Thank GOODNESS for this app. My husband and I always almost end up in a divorce when putting things together. This app is so much better than reading directions. NIGHTMARE,” Michele Y. posted in the App Store.
Not only do individuals love the BILT app, so do companies. Among those listed on BILT’s website as joining forces to deliver 3D instructions are the likes of Walmart, The Home Depot, Siemens, The Container Store, Rubbermaid, NordicTrack, American Standard and more, even some members of the military.
“I wish I could express how great a role BILT Incorporated has played in our growth. One way to prove this is we have grown more than 10 times in the last five years, but our call volume has barely increased. This lets us know the ease of instructions BILT is providing our customers for installation is so good they have all the answers they need,” Murphy Door CED Jeremy Barker said.
“The cash saved on customer service labor can be directly reallocated to product improvement, research and development, or marketing, a huge value increase for the company.”
BILT won Best Home Software Product at the Best of IBS 2023 International Builders’ Show and Most Innovative Construction Tool in 2020. In 2022, they took home the Pro Tool Innovation Award for Technology.
The company has made Inc. magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in America the past three years. BILT was a finalist for Tech in Motion’s Best Tech Startup in 2020 and is an Appy and UXie Gold winner.
“BILT delivers an empowering, interactive setup that transforms training and makes everyone more successful,” Qureshi said.
First of its kind
“BILT is the only company in the world that has architected a global platform to provide 3D interactive instructions on a mobile app that can be used by anyone, anywhere,” Henderson said.
The 3D guides can be password and access key protected.
Hundreds of instruction sets can be downloaded to a single mobile device. Each guide is about the size of a song on iTunes. Once downloaded, 3D instructions can be used in the field or on a jobsite without WiFi.
“Our closest competitors are traditional paper manuals and YouTube videos, or just winging it and attempting to do it on your own,” Henderson said. “BILT turns a traditionally terrible experience into a confidence-boosting triumph.”
Not an acronym
While many have wondered what BILT stands for, Henderson stresses that it is not an acronym. He said they wanted a strong, empowering and enabling name for the app, and BILT is what they came up with.
“Someone suggested it could stand for ‘build in less time,’ but that’s not official,” he said with a smile.
“We have logo T-shirts that claim ‘Rome could have been BILT in a day,’” Qureshi said, adding with a laugh, “If only they’d had the 3D interactive instruction app.”
What lies ahead
“We have 3D guides for about 11,000 products and procedures in BILT, but the possibilities are endless,” Qureshi said. “We are just getting started in the professional space with locks, plumbing, and electrical training as well as military use cases.”
They’ve also compiled a BILT toolbox full of tool tutorials and easy home, auto and bicycle maintenance guides for DIYers.
They will also continue to emphasize the importance of going green, also helping brands improve their environmental impact.
Henderson cited a statistic about paper manufacturing’s impact on water and trees. An example of combating this, he said, is how Chamberlain, a manufacturer of garage door openers, partnered with BILT and reduced paper manuals from 56 pages to 16, a 71% reduction in paper waste, saving 92 tons of paper per year.
