geekhack Community > Ergonomics

What is the most optimized layout recently?

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PieterGen:

--- Quote from: oneproduct on Mon, 07 March 2016, 15:00:36 ---Personally speaking, I started with QWERTY, tried Dvorak and then ended with Colemak (not even really trying my own proposed layout seriously).
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A shame! It looked really promising, your layout  :)


--- Quote from: oneproduct on Mon, 07 March 2016, 15:00:36 ---For me Dvorak just didn't click. I find that too much alternation is a bad thing as it requires stricter organization between the left and right hand, resulting in transposition errors (two letters in a word swapped). Colemak's rolls are quite comfortable to me. And even if it turns out that Colemak is slightly less optimal in terms of what I could achieve in terms of typing speed, there's a human comfort factor which may be more or less valuable than sheer typing speed.

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This is indeed very personal! To me a high alternation layout feels more even, more flowing, whereas a rolly layout such as MTGAP or Colemak after a while feels like roll  - switch  - roll - switch , that is: a bunch of letters on one hand, then switch over, then a bunch of letters on the other hand. But, feel free to have a completely different opinion  :)

Not mentioned: the learning curves involved. My guess is that rolls are easier to learn and therefore that a on rolly layout, such as Colemak, it takes less time to achieve a certain speed and accuracy. On the longer run however, alternating layouts may be faster/ more accurate / more pleasant. As said, this is all opinion  :D

There are so many aspects that play a role in layouts...... For instance: what is your "penalty function"? To make a comparison to real life: for a holiday, would you prefer a nice hotel with nice beach, all week long; or rather a superduper great hotel with a fanastic beach, BUT with 1 day of ugly weather and 1 night of noisy, hard party-ing neighbors that keep you awake all night? What is "optimal" ? Coming back to keyboards: would you prefer a layout that does everything OK, or one that is *super* but on which some words are really hard to type on?

davkol:
It's a matter of opinion only because there isn't sufficient data.

For example, L. Malt wrote on the topic of alternation:

--- Quote ---Experiments on transmission of information in the nervous system (Efron 1963) show a 2 - 6 m.sec longer delay to the right hemisphere stimuli. If such a delay exists it appears reasonable to conjecture that transmissions that cross the corpus callosum, which must occur with contra-lateral sequences, will each be subject to the 2 - 6 m.sec delay.
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We're stuck with such extrapolations.

LuX:

--- Quote from: oneproduct on Mon, 07 March 2016, 15:00:36 ---Personally speaking, I started with QWERTY, tried Dvorak and then ended with Colemak (not even really trying my own proposed layout seriously). For me Dvorak just didn't click. I find that too much alternation is a bad thing as it requires stricter organization between the left and right hand, resulting in transposition errors (two letters in a word swapped). Colemak's rolls are quite comfortable to me. And even if it turns out that Colemak is slightly less optimal in terms of what I could achieve in terms of typing speed, there's a human comfort factor which may be more or less valuable than sheer typing speed.

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I can absolutely second this. I tried Dvorak for a couple of weeks but ended up not using it because of the uncomfortable hand alternation. Colemak has a lot of 'combo' words that allow you to just roll your fingers on the keyboard to type them out.
From what I hear, a big design criteria of Dvorak was hand alternation, because the heavier spring-retracting levers on the later typewriters you needed more force to press the keys, so Dvorak essentially allows you to hammer those keys more easily through hand alternation. But now in the day and age of ultralight switches, I find Colemak much better. Not the best perhaps, but better enough that I will stick to it.

As for programming, I find the most important part is to have your most used symbols at an easy to reach position. This will change from language to language. What I currently use it this:

That capslock to backspace is the best thing since sliced bread. I put capslock on to the delete key, and delete to left win. I like having delete nearby, and don't miss that winkey at all.
If you have a programmable keyboard with the extra keys for effortless layer switching, it might be a good idea to put those symbols on the home road as well. Much of it is trial and error.

PieterGen:
Nice

yellowfour:
Of all the well-known layouts, evidence suggests that MTGAP takes the lead in most tests for both prose and code. Not surprising, since it was created from algorithms for finding the best layout. Colemak and BuTeck-(AdNW) are slightly behind.

However, a major flaw I see in all the current crop of layouts and tests is the emphasis and overworking of the pinky, including the home pinky. All known layouts have anywhere between 5% - 13% of work done by each pinky. Together that's 10% - 26% of all key presses, which is way too high. Pinky is not built to work that hard, and nor do they type that fast. So by putting a common letter on a home pinky, you actually type slower and tire out your pinkies.

Ideally pinky usage should max out at around 5% each and 8% total, but preferably even lower. Same with columns inside the index fingers. Altogether these 4 columns should do no more than 16% of the workload. Conversely, the 3 middle columns are much stronger and faster. Even the top and bottom rows in these 3 columns are typed much faster than the home pinky--sometimes 2x to 3x faster. Thus, by prioritizing common letters in the middle, you can achieve faster speeds, less fatigue, and better rolls.

As for rolls vs. hand alternation, each must be proportionate. 2-letter rolls for speed, and hand alternations for rhythm. Long rolls slow you down and get tiresome. Too much alternation can seem too hectic and cause errors. The best balance seems to be 60% hand alternation and 30% rolls.

You can try out my new BEAKL layout that applies this new theory: https://deskthority.net/wiki/Keyboard_layouts#BEAKL_.282016.29. It was created with the aid of AdNW optimizer by heavily modifying the configuration to limit home row usage on the inside and outside columns. Yet when tested on traditional tests that heavily favor the home row, it still scores better than almost all of them. Except MTGAP, which wins in most tests, but only by a tiny amount over BEAKL. In conclusion, BEAKL still achieves top notch scores by sacrificing the home row. In return, saves the pinkies and possibly grants higher speed ceiling with less effort (since the other 3 fingers are stronger and faster).

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