Shipman's Kinesis keyboard page

I believe that converting to the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard can significantly improve anyone's typing speed, accuracy and comfort. These benefits come from placing the most frequently used keys directly under the home positions of the fingers, and arranging the rest so that it is easier to reach the more commonly used keys.

However, I now believe that there is an additional quantum leap available to typists for a quite reasonable price: the Kinesis keyboard family. I've been using the Kinesis ``Essential'' keyboard since September 1998, and I'll never go back to regular keyboards.

Here are the problems with the regular keyboard that the Kinesis layout solves:

• The usual monolithic keyboard requires that the hands are bent at an uncomfortable angle to the wrists. Split keyboards address this problem, but again I feel they're only a partial improvement.
• Typing on a regular or even split keyboard still requires a lot of side-to-side hand motion because the keys covered by each finger (I'm assuming touch typing here) are arranged along a diagonal. The digit 6, which is assigned to the right index finger, is actually as close or closer to the left index finger.
• Typing on a standard keyboard also requires a lot of hand motion up and down on the keyboard. Since the little finger is shorter, it has to go further to reach its keys.
• The left thumb has nothing to do, and the right thumb has only one key (the spacebar). The little fingers have way too much to do. The left little finger covers shift, control, caps lock, and tab, as well as the normal letters on the left side. The right little finger has to cover Enter and Backspace.

Here is how the Kinesis design addresses the complaints above:

• There is a gap of several inches between the left-hand and right-hand key groups. This allows the hands to lie at a normal angle (pretty much a straight line) with respect to the wrists.
• The arrangement of keys in diagonals is an artifact of typewriter design that is completely unnecessary with computer keyboards. The Kinesis layout arranges the keys for each finger in a vertical row, so no lateral hand motion is necessary when moving a finger from row to row.
• The keys for each hand are recessed in a way that corresponds to the shape of the hand. The keys for the middle finger are recessed more deeply, and the little finger keys are raised higher. This puts the keys right where the fingers want them to be. The column of keys for each finger is arranged along a circular arc so that all you have to do is flex and extend the fingers to move from row to row.
• The right thumb covers six keys: space, Enter, Alt, Ctrl, Page Up, and Page Down. Space is the home position and Enter is reached by a slight extension of the thumb. The left thumb rests naturally on Backspace: this alone is one of the biggest design wins, since you can now correct errors without moving your hand out of the home position. The left thumb has its own Alt and Ctrl keys and also covers Delete, Home, and End.

I've been doing a certain data entry task for many years now and I have pretty good baseline statistics on how fast I can do each record. When I converted to the Kinesis, the first two days were very frustrating. By one week I had all my speed back. After two weeks I was working 20% faster than ever. I haven't measured recently but I suspect the speed has plateaued now at about 25% faster.

I use the same DSK remapping software with the Kinesis that I'd been using with conventional keyboards. I believe anyone who is used to either QWERTY or DSK can convert to the Kinesis and get back all their speed, and then some, in maybe 40 hours of use.

Note: Although I don't suffer from RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), there are a lot of RSI sufferers who find that the Kinesis reduces or eliminates the pain that they get from using regular keyboards.

See the Kinesis Corporation page for pictures, descriptions, testimonials, RSI information, and pointers to dealers. I've bought two from one of their vendors, Softek Business Systems, and their service was very good.

Cost is in the $200-230 range for the basic model, which is all I've needed. Yes, there are lots of keyboards out there for much cheaper than that. But how much is your time worth? What would be the impact on your productivity if you developed RSI?

Last updated: 1998/10/25 23:21:59
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/~shipman/ergo/kinesis.html