QWERTY-Flip - a new and easy to learn keyboard layout

[nick-g]

Hi everyone. Since August I've been using a new keyboard layout I invented. I think it's pretty good, so I wanted to announce it somewhere so people can find out about it and try it out. You can read more about it here: QWERTY-Flip

Please let me know what you think - I hope you like it!

[treeleaf64]

This is a terrible layout

You should know that T and H are some of the most common letters and reaching your fingers  to do them is so horrible

I still think colemak DH is the best for the amount of new keys you learn

[Sup]

I don't see the benefits of this.

[Polymer]

This is a terrible layout

You should know that T and H are some of the most common letters and reaching your fingers  to do them is so horrible

I still think colemak DH is the best for the amount of new keys you learn

But the point is you already reach to do T and H on a QWERTY layout.....and unlike other alternative layouts, apparently this is easier to pick up...I don't know if that is true but if so, it looks like it would be a bit more efficient..

I do wonder though, if you're going to have to make major changes anyways, is it really any better?  Is the learning curve less steep and more time can be spent getting faster rather than learning a new layout?  Because either way, the effort to change this on another computer is still significant..even more so with this layout than many computers that might already support dvorak within the OS. 

[nick-g]

This is a terrible layout

You should know that T and H are some of the most common letters and reaching your fingers  to do them is so horrible

I still think colemak DH is the best for the amount of new keys you learn

Wow, that was a quick evaluation. Did you try it or just look at it? I think a lot of its advantages only become apparent when you try to use it.

You say you like the Colemak Mod-DH layout. Okay, let's look at that. Its documentation has a good section on its changes from QWERTY. Ignoring the angle mod, it moves 19 keys; 7 which are "moved, same finger", 10 keys which are "moved, different finger", and 2 of which are "moved, different hand".

Compare that with QWERTY-Flip. It moves 14 keys, and all of those move in the same way. The 8 on the right are clearly "moved, same finger", and the 6 on the left could be used by the same finger since the stagger between the top and middle rows is only 0.25. Not only is that better than Colemak Mod-DH, but the changes are made in a uniform manner which means you can still use existing muscle memory - an advantage unique to this layout.

Regarding the locations of the T and H keys, I would argue that the 2 positions next to the resting positions of the index fingers on the middle row are very easy to hit, and this layout puts them next to each other to make the TH bigram a potential finger roll.

But anyway, going back to my original point, I think the only real way to evaluate a layout is to try it out. QWERTY-Flip optimises for ease of learning, and does it in a new way which I haven't seen done before. I hope people take some time to evaluate it properly.

[kajahtaa]

i'd kinda expect a keymap.c

[nick-g]

I do wonder though, if you're going to have to make major changes anyways, is it really any better?  Is the learning curve less steep and more time can be spent getting faster rather than learning a new layout?  Because either way, the effort to change this on another computer is still significant..even more so with this layout than many computers that might already support dvorak within the OS.

That's a very good question, and it's of course completely subjective (like most things keyboard related). What I can say is that it works for me, and it may work for others, which is why I wanted to share it. I currently use QWERTY-Flip on a TKL, and occasionally have to use a normal QWERTY laptop keyboard. When I use the laptop, most of the keys feel very far away (because they are!). So I prefer QWERTY-Flip.

And it really doesn't feel like a major change either - that's one of the nice things about it. Learning it is very easy. It's true that you have to install it, but hopefully it's not too bad. I've made layouts for Linux (XKB), Windows (KLC, PKL, AHK), Mac OS (keylayout), and TMK firmware using the excellent klfc tool. You can get them from the QWERTY-Flip git repo.

[nick-g]

i'd kinda expect a keymap.c

The layout files are all generated using klfc. It would be nice if that supported QMK, but it doesn't right now. I assume most QMK users probably have their own unique keymap.c files already, and it doesn't take long to edit the file to move the keys around. I take your point though.

[Nonuke]

I like the idea, but I am too old to try another layout. QWERTY serves me well, and to mitigate health problems I went to an ergo board. I can see the logic you used there, and I believe it may bring some advantages over QWERTY. I am pretty sure that a QMK json file would e stimulate adoption.

Cheers.

[Polymer]

I do wonder though, if you're going to have to make major changes anyways, is it really any better?  Is the learning curve less steep and more time can be spent getting faster rather than learning a new layout?  Because either way, the effort to change this on another computer is still significant..even more so with this layout than many computers that might already support dvorak within the OS.

That's a very good question, and it's of course completely subjective (like most things keyboard related). What I can say is that it works for me, and it may work for others, which is why I wanted to share it. I currently use QWERTY-Flip on a TKL, and occasionally have to use a normal QWERTY laptop keyboard. When I use the laptop, most of the keys feel very far away (because they are!). So I prefer QWERTY-Flip.

And it really doesn't feel like a major change either - that's one of the nice things about it. Learning it is very easy. It's true that you have to install it, but hopefully it's not too bad. I've made layouts for Linux (XKB), Windows (KLC, PKL, AHK), Mac OS (keylayout), and TMK firmware using the excellent klfc tool. You can get them from the QWERTY-Flip git repo.

Well to me, I like that the learning curve is probably less steep..but the problem when moving to another keyboard still exists...so unless going back and forth between QWERTY and QWERTY-FLIP is somehow less bad than doing it on other layouts, I'm not really sure there is a huge advantage...

That said, it took me a bit to do HHKB to normal keyboard back and forth easily...but it wasn't a huge difference and now it is the same as switching driving sides...

Yes, I'm aware that switching will be an individual thing..and I suppose an easier learning curve should also mean switching back and forth will be easier...

[nick-g]

Well to me, I like that the learning curve is probably less steep..but the problem when moving to another keyboard still exists...so unless going back and forth between QWERTY and QWERTY-FLIP is somehow less bad than doing it on other layouts, I'm not really sure there is a huge advantage...

That said, it took me a bit to do HHKB to normal keyboard back and forth easily...but it wasn't a huge difference and now it is the same as switching driving sides...

Yes, I'm aware that switching will be an individual thing..and I suppose an easier learning curve should also mean switching back and forth will be easier...

I think that's the most interesting claim I want to make about this layout. I think having the moving keys all move in the same way somehow makes going back and forth between QWERTY and QWERTY-Flip easier than it is to go back and forth between QWERTY and other layouts. I guess your brain just learns one rule which can be applied to many keys rather than having to learn many different rules for different keys. It seems my muscle memory is able to make the switch without much conscious effort on my part, and if it works for me I reckon it will probably work for others too.

I'm a programmer and when I work in the same office as others I often have to use other people's QWERTY keyboards. Switching layouts has to be very easy for me, and that's one of the things QWERTY-Flip gives me, along with being super easy to learn.