Guys Meet - Iron Bark <--- I need feedback

[BlindShadow]

So i made a keyboard design and i would like some feedback, since i am new at this i thought it would make sense to ask you guys to nitpick my design given most of you probably have much more experience in design and ergonomics than i have.

Thanks ^^

[CPTBadAss]

How do you plan on typing in the middle triangle? And the very top row and outer edges look unreachable if you plan on typing with the home row setup. It looks like a disaster to figure out how to place your hands.

[azhdar]

How do you plan on typing in the middle triangle? And the very top row and outer edges look unreachable if you plan on typing with the home row setup. It looks like a disaster to figure out how to place your hands.

Yeah unless you have big hands it seems almost unreachable.

[Snarfangel]

I am always interested in new designs. Could you show the home row and the proposed key layout?

[eddie]

yea i think a key layout would be really important for judgement

edit wrong quote

[jacobolus]

My advice isn’t about this specific layout but about designing layouts in general:

Make a physical test as soon as possible. Start with just paper printouts. Then for the next step, pull all the keycaps off a $5 rubber dome and stick them into modeling clay or similar. If you have access to a laser cutter, try cutting plates that you can stick real keyswitches into. Etc.

Iterate 10 times on your design over the course of a day or two, and then solicit external feedback. Try your prototypes (whether paper or fancier) on your friends and family. Make a few versions and hand them to someone and see what they like and don’t.

Once you have a design that seems to work, build the cheapest working prototype you can. Use cardboard or acrylic or cheap wood for the structure, and try to build something that takes as little design work (no PCBs, no fancy CAD work for the case, ...) and as short a construction time as possible to construct. Hand wire it and use some existing firmware, and don’t worry if some of the solder joints are crappy and break after 2 days of use.

Having something physical to test will (a) help you learn a lot faster than abstract thinking, at least at first, and (b) give you something to show off, which helps keep excitement up both for you and for whoever you’re showing it to.

I see lots of people design fancy dream keyboards without nearly enough iteration in the prototyping phase.

[BlindShadow]

My advice isn’t about this specific layout but about designing layouts in general:

Make a physical test as soon as possible. Start with just paper printouts. Then for the next step, pull all the keycaps off a $5 rubber dome and stick them into modeling clay or similar. If you have access to a laser cutter, try cutting plates that you can stick real keyswitches into. Etc.

Iterate 10 times on your design over the course of a day or two, and then solicit external feedback. Try your prototypes (whether paper or fancier) on your friends and family. Make a few versions and hand them to someone and see what they like and don’t.

Once you have a design that seems to work, build the cheapest working prototype you can. Use cardboard or acrylic or cheap wood for the structure, and try to build something that takes as little design work (no PCBs, no fancy CAD work for the case, ...) and as short a construction time as possible to construct. Hand wire it and use some existing firmware, and don’t worry if some of the solder joints are crappy and break after 2 days of use.

Having something physical to test will (a) help you learn a lot faster than abstract thinking, at least at first, and (b) give you something to show off, which helps keep excitement up both for you and for whoever you’re showing it to.

I see lots of people design fancy dream keyboards without nearly enough iteration in the prototyping phase.

"I see lots of people design fancy dream keyboards without nearly enough iteration in the prototyping phase."

Really good advice

I have seen the same and i agree, but i have actually done that ^^ both clay and 3d printing, now i'm just considering the key layout and the design.

[BlindShadow]

How do you plan on typing in the middle triangle? And the very top row and outer edges look unreachable if you plan on typing with the home row setup. It looks like a disaster to figure out how to place your hands.

I am always interested in new designs. Could you show the home row and the proposed key layout?

yea i think a key layout would be really important for judgement
edit wrong quote

my hands thrive with 20% extra space in between keys so i guess they must be larger

The keyboard layout is still up for discussion, it should be noted that i am a programmer, and there will be some functions keys to the far right and left. the middle will be for special characters,  and along the bottom there will be the numbers.

[Oobly]

Ah, now it starts to make sense. I like it.

If you make it programmable it will provide a lot of character layout options, depending how people type on a normal board.

The only major downside I can see is the keycap shape limits you to using original keycaps and those are not going to be easy to make. 3D printed ones generally don't cut it, due to either poor accuracy for the stems (so they don't fit well on the switches) or poor surface texture for typing.

[mrbishop]

very interesting and unique. would be good to have a full scale prototype even if its non functional just to test usage before going all out just to find out you dont like how it types. and i'm in agreement with the rest as far as limited key selections and such but i do like the idea. sometimes doing things or making things differently is truly progress.

interested to see where this goes