Day 14 — A Journey to an Ergonomic Workspace
Hello, my name is Henry and I am a software engineer at HENNGE. I’d like to share a story about how my working desk evolved over time into a more ergonomic layout.
I’ve been using a computer for a long time, ever since I played ‘The Sims’ on my Compaq PC. I remember being astonished at the myriad of actions I could do inside the game. Lots of needs meter to fill, going to work to earn money, and ultimately creating the ideal house layout. Good times! Back then, we settled on a very simple PC desk at home similar to this:
After using the setup for a while, I noticed an issue: the keyboard tray didn’t fit both the keyboard and the mouse comfortably! There was very little space for the mouse to move on, and the keyboard took up most of the space. I ended up using the mouse on the table above the tray for more space, but after some time, my shoulders started getting stiff from having to hold the mouse at a weird angle. The table above the tray was way more elevated compared to the tray, so my upper arm needed to bend outwards in order to compensate for the lack of vertical distance between my shoulder and the surface.
I’ve since moved away from home and worked at different desks, but space has always been a luxury and trying to optimize the available desk space has been high on my priority list. That’s when I started researching for a more ergonomic arrangement for the mouse and keyboard. And boy, the rabbit hole just went deeper and deeper…
The Pointing Device
The mouse is a ubiquitous input device used mostly to point to a certain pixel on the screen in a graphical application. Even though other options exist, the mouse is one of the most commonly used pointing device and the preferred one for a wide array of use, such as productivity work, gaming, etc. This popularity is mainly due to how intuitive it is to move an object with your hand and see the corresponding cursor mimics your movement on the screen. It’s also very precise, especially as people gain proficiency in its usage. Some people likes to have a large surface area to enjoy the precision of moving the mouse slowly and accurately, while some others see it as a waste of space and effort, and would prefer to have the cursor jump from one end of the screen to another with a flick of the wrist.
It’s not without its drawback though. Some of the drawbacks from the early iterations have disappeared due to the advance of technology (the need to clean the ball, optical sensor that doesn’t track on glass surface, etc.), but the main drawback that still exists today is the need to have a sufficiently large flat surface for its operation. The optimal size differs with each people’s preference, but the need to move a mouse over a distance back and forth also causes some strain to the wrist and shoulder over time, especially if the desk isn’t comfortable for your arm length.
In an ideal desk with the perfect height and a large enough surface area, using a mouse is a breeze. However due to the mobile nature of computer work in this modern era, those two issues might not be as easily resolved as it used to be. Several alternatives emerged especially in the laptop category, to have a complete input package crammed into a thin package not larger than a stack of paper. The pointing stick popularized by IBM Thinkpad series was one of them.
Pictured in the middle of G, H, and B keys with buttons on top of the touchpad, this tool here is loved by some and loathed by others. Due to the high learning curve coming from mouse usage over the years, this option didn’t gain enough traction and stayed a niche solution to the issue. Nowadays, laptops commonly come with a trackpad/touchpad to resolve the pointing device issue.
Due to the intuitive nature of moving your finger across the surface to move the cursor on the screen, combined with multiple finger gestures tracking to perform multiple tasks, the trackpad remains a popular choice on most laptops. Its close proximity to the keyboard also helps alleviate the pain of having to move back and forth between mouse and keyboard.
The trackpad, especially the good ones made by Apple or Logitech (sadly discontinued) is a joy to work with, and requires little space. However, a few years ago I found a very nice alternative to the trackpad: the trackball.
To some, the trackball might feel like a relic from a lost era (and I understand the feeling. That was my first reaction too!) and might bring into mind the horrors of cleaning lint that clogged ball mouse from the olden days. However, the trackball turns out to be a very elegant tool for me.
Since we only need to move the ball with the fingertips and both our wrist and shoulder remains mostly stationary, it’s a very comfortable pointing device to use. It helped alleviate the pain on my shoulders after using them for some time as opposed to using a mouse or trackpad. If you feel some pain on your shoulder due to prolonged use of mouse or trackpad, I recommend giving one a try! Give it a few weeks to get accustomed to, and you’ll feel more relaxed when using them as opposed to using mouse or trackpad.
The Keyboard
Another ubiquitous input device that has served computer users well over the past several decades, keyboard is the input device of choice for most tasks you can do on a computer. With enough proficiency and the help of specialized tools, you can even forgo the pointing device altogether! Some programmers swear by the keyboard and eliminating the mouse from their workspace is their ultimate goal in life. It is indeed a versatile tool with lots of functionalities due to the sheer amount of keys it has.
After using the keyboard without thinking too much for several years, some baffling questions emerged in my mind:
- Why is there a redundancy between number row and number pad?
- Why are the arrow keys arranged as an inverted T shape instead of a row with four keys? (since most human being I’ve met apparently has five fingers, and four of them are neatly arranged in a line close to each other)
- Why is the main alphanumeric region placed on the left side of the board, with arrow keys cluster and numeric pad cluster to its right? That would mean that to have the main alphanumeric area centered in front of me, the rest should stick out to the right. Not to mention the majority of people are right handed, which means even further distance from the alphanumeric region which we interact with the most to the mouse!
- Why is there a right stagger for each row on alphanumeric region, but none on the arrow cluster nor the numeric pad area? Is there a point in having the stagger at all?
- Why is our arguably one of the most dexterous finger, the thumb, relegated to pressing a single oversized spacebar key (and probably its surrounding key like the alt/option key)? Both the right thumb and the left thumb even share the same task to press the spacebar! Are there no better use of space other than putting a 6–7 wide space bar key dead center on the bottom row of alphanumeric region?
- Why is the commonly used letters like the vocals (E, U, I, O) scattered on the top row instead of on the home row where our fingers usually rests on with a proper touch typing posture? (On the QWERTY layout)
The question goes on and on, so I decided to do some research on the issue. As it turns out, the keyboard layout that we currently use is not too dissimilar from the typewriter layout from several decades ago!
On typewriters, pressing a letter pushes a lever underneath it to move its corresponding typebar to “punch” the ribbon to form a letter on the page. Since it’s mostly mechanical, typewriters are susceptible to jamming, especially if the typist types too fast since two typebars might catch onto each other and the repair will be costly. Due to these issues, it is speculated that the typewriter was designed with a stagger on each row, allowing the levers underneath some breathing room so as to not interfere with each other. Moreover, to further prevent jamming, the letters are intentionally arranged to be not optimal so as to prevent typists from typing too fast and jam the keys! Hence the resulting QWERTY layout, having commonly used letters scattered on different places far from the neutral home row position. This arrangement increases the frequency of vertical movement, further slowing down the typist.
Armed with this knowledge in mind, I started wanting to improve my typing skill by doing several things at once:
- Moving from QWERTY layout to Colemak layout.
- Learn to properly touch type (I used type using a non-proper touch type technique).
- Start using an ergonomic split keyboard.
Since letting go of your muscle memory and retraining them to get familiar with a new layout takes a huge amount of time and effort, I decided to use my summer holiday to go cold turkey style (start using the new technique immediately without the safety crutch of falling back on the old technique at all). It was a painful month, but I think the results are worth it!
The benefits might not be immediately felt even when you mastered the new layout, since there was a long period of time difference when you used both layouts optimally. However, I fall back to using QWERTY layout from time to time when I’m working somewhere without any Colemak support (by reading the labels on the keycap instead of by muscle memory), and I immediately feel that I vertically move my fingers less when using Colemak. It helps tremendously in improving efficiency and comfort. It is also less straining to the muscles because of the reduced vertical movement.
This benefit like visualized above will of course differ depending on the type of text you use, the language you are typing in, and the vocabulary used in your writing. However I can say that while typing in English or programming (which also uses English most of the time), the benefit is noticeable.
The benefit of properly touch typing is also very pronounced as I found a proper structure of where my fingers should be when it’s rested, and which finger should press which key. I also started using the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 around the same time, and the move to a split keyboard helps reinforce the notion. Since there is a clear separation between left hand and right hand’s responsibilities. It helps restore some order to my chaotic typing skill.
Sadly, the keyboard didn’t last that long (probably due to me accidentally spilling water on it), but the incident also led me to research more on ergonomic keyboards. After considering what made the most sense in my mind (symmetrical layout, no horizontal stagger between each rows, fully programmable layout, no redundant keys such as the numeric pad, fully programmable layout), I settled with the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard (and it comes with a cool name to boot 😎)
It was the first keyboard I used that really blew my mind due to how much it makes sense. The symmetry! The compact layout! Detachable wrist rest! Vertical stagger to accommodate for different finger length! This keyboard served me well for several years and offered comfort for my weary fingers. However, there are several drawbacks that while minor, adds up over time. This is when I found a Kickstarter campaign for a very cool keyboard which I ended up funding right away: the Keyboardio Model 01.
This keyboard has lots of features that combined, is simply unparalleled. Some of the highlight features are:
- Complete separation of left and right half with octo-feet for easy tenting.
- Individually sculpted keycaps for ultimate ergonomics and comfort, with dot marking on index and pinky finger.
- Four concave thumb keys and dot indicator on the neutral position.
- Fully programmable with Arduino IDE and custom firmware, and support for many layers and programmable macros.
- The brilliant concave palm keys which allows for quick and easy change of layers. By holding down the key with your palm, you can change what each key on the keyboard does!
- Programmable RGB lighting.
- Wooden frame for that classy timeless look.
Using the keyboard with a customized layout is pure joy, and the increased efficiency from having multiple layers accessible with a press of the palm is awesome.
The Final Setup
This setup of split keyboard + trackball was what I’ve been using happily for quite some time. It offered comfort and empowers me to get more things done in a shorter period of time. I ended up having another set of keyboard + input device due to a shift in working environment, but that’s a story for another day. Hope this post gives some insight and encourages you to consider more ergonomic workspace!
This article is part of the HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019. An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting down the days till Christmas. HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019 presents one article by one HENNGE member per day for 25 days until Christmas, 2019
