4 ms·
I'm interested in what you consider "theoretical stuff" or "poorly designed tests." If metrics like number of words possible from the home row alone or total fi
by nether 13y ago
I'm interested in what you consider "theoretical stuff" or "poorly designed tests." If metrics like number of words possible from the home row alone or total finger travel given some body of text do not satisfy you, then I doubt anything will.
I will say one of the biggest misconceptions is that the Dvorak layout is for speed. I've known people who type 80+ WPM with two fingers on QWERTY. You can be fast on any layout, but Dvorak is way more comfortable. Once you can type faster than you can think of what to type, it doesn't really matter.
- MrGando 13y agoI totally agree here, when you are programming it doesn't really matter if you type at 150 WPM... it's all about ergonomics and movement economy (IMHO).
- thatthatis 13y agoMetrics like: % of users getting RSI per year adjusted for age and number of characters typed in a year on controlled hardware. Characters per minute of typists who've used both layouts for a year plus. Words typeable from the home row is what I'd consider a theoretical metric. It should help with efficiency and health, but it is a leap of logic to say that it definitely will. "It's more comfortable" is what I'd consider to be a valid anecdotal data point, but one that I fear has response bias as people who try dvorak and find it less comfortable silently switch back to qwerty. Absent well designed tests, qwerty/dvorak/coleman is a religious argument.