The world is full of devices associated with the word ergonomic. A scholar trying to learn the word by studying the way it's used in today's culture is likely conclude that it means "curvy" or possibly "funny-looking." Nearly all mice, trackballs, and other devices are now described as ergonomic; this doesn't mean they're all good for you to use.
Unfortunately, unless you use a given gizmo for a few hours, it's hard to get a feel for how it will work for you. Still, experimentation is the tried-and-true method to determine the level of ergonomic satisfaction you will get from a device. Borrow mice from friends to see how you like them. Try keyboards out in the store.
I'm biased here. I got a Kinesis contoured ergonomic keyboard a few years back and fell in love. But not everyone can justify spending $200 to $300 on a keyboard. (If you write for a living, it's not hard at all to justify.)
Keyboards are also highly subject to personal taste and typing style. They different in several ways:
- Stiffness -- some people prefer a keyboard that requires a bit of force to move the keys; others like the light-pressure bounce (much like playing a Steinway baby grand) that lets fingers dance deftly and speedily from phrase to phrase.
- Mushiness -- some keyboards lock-click precisely into place while others sort of squish and "settle."
- Key travel -- a question of how far the key moves from all the way out to all the way in. (This is like shifting a manual transmission -- some like the short wrist-capable patterns while others like to reach with their entire arms.)
- And don't forget trigger point, the location in the stroke where the key triggers the event.
If you do a lot of typing, it'll probably take only a minute or so of practice typing before you can tell which keyboard you'll be comfortable with. For me, the Kinesis feel -- very light keys, definite click, long travel but the key triggers early -- is just about perfect. I also very much like some laptop keyboards. I hate all squishy keys. Typing on a squishy keyboard for even a minute produces intense pain.
It is an unfortunate fact that for the most part, good keyboards cost a lot of money. Take the time to shop around for keyboards and don't worry too much about a keyboard costing a little extra. It feels horrible being asked to pay $100 for a keyboard when you can get a cheap keyboard for $7 ... but really, it can be easily worth it if you're working on the computer full-time. Plus, it's often easy to wear out a cheap keyboard.
Just being split in the middle doesn't necessarily make a keyboard a good choice ergonomically. It is possible that a keyboard which is split in the middle can be very painful to use. For instance, I can't type on the "standard" split keyboards because they didn't put the split at the point where I switch from one hand to another. Maybe my habits are bad, but they work fine the rest of the time. The experience of split keyboards centers around what you can find in stores, though; unfortunately, it's hard to get a chance to try some of the expensive ergonomic keyboards.
If you have serious injuries, you may want to look into some of the more interesting alternatives such as chording keyboards. These have a much steeper learning curve and generally cost a fair bit of money, but they can work when nothing similar to a standard keyboard would. The Typing Injury FAQ states:
Chording keyboards are smaller and have fewer keys, typically one for each finger and possibly the thumbs. Instead of the usual sequential, one-at-a-time key presses, chording requires simultaneous key presses for each character typed, similar to playing a musical chord on a piano. The primary advantage of the chording keyboard is that it requires far fewer keys than a conventional keyboard. With fewer keys, finger travel is minimized because the fingers always remain on the same keys ... the user is free to place the keyboard wherever it is convenient and may avoid the unnatural keying posture associated with a conventional keyboard. At least 15 hours of training and practice are necessary to learn the chord patterns that represent individual letters and numbers ... data entry rates (characters per unit of time) are actually slower than data entry rates for conventional keyboards.
For me, the winner has to be trackballs. Some people can't use them; I love them. However, one thing that makes a huge difference and applies equally to mice and trackballs -- optical is better. Mechanical mice and trackballs tend to skip and stutter or stick when they're dirty; you need to take them apart and clean them. The worst part of this is that when the ball is only sticking a little, you miss the thing you're trying to point at fairly often. Since it's just a mechanical problem, you may not notice it until it's gotten really bad. In the mean time, you make a lot of extra, repetitive hand movements. Going to an optical track ball made my hands hurt significantly less.
Mouse buttons are mostly pretty usable, but scroll wheels continue to vary greatly. A good scroll wheel can be wonderful; a bad one can be really awful. (Possibly even as bad as no scroll wheel.)
Yes, desks and chairs really do matter. The most important thing is probably height. The difference between being at the right height for your desk and being even two inches too low can be incredible. A chair whose height adjustment doesn't work reliably or doesn't stay where you put it is one of the worst curses you can experience in an office space.
The right height for a desk is often a little lower than you expect. If a desk is about the right height for writing on, the chances are that a keyboard drawer mounted under it is about the right height for typing on. A comfortable height for eating (everyone eats at their desks, right?) is way too high for typing!
Ergonomic guidelines generally recommend that your keyboard be at a height such that your arms can hang straight down, then bend straight out at the elbows; this is pretty close to lap height for most people.
While you might think that software is unlikely to fix what is perhaps a most purely hardware-related problem, it turns out that software can address a number of things. Ergonomic software comes in a couple of flavors that can help you remember to do important things or can change the way you use your computer.
It's time for your pill, madam
It is with no small sense of irony that I told my reminder program to let me keep typing for 10 more minutes as I started this paragraph. The key point of reminder programs is that they are directed to help you improve your work habits. One nice feature of some programs is a selection of exercises to help you stretch out, unkink some muscles, and otherwise take better care of yourself.
Reminder programs don't change the way you use the computer while you're using it; they mostly just make you stop using it on a schedule. They generally have little or no learning curve. They do, however, slow you down.
On the other hand, when I'm doing a lot of writing, I find that I can get more done in a day if I take regular breaks than if I try to hurry through the work.
Time to change that attitude, mister
"Changing the way you work" is a total cliche that is, surprisingly enough, useful. The most obvious example is dictation software. Talking is not at all like typing and generally is not as subject to repetitive stress injuries. People who write a great deal particularly benefit from dictation software.
Other examples include macro programs which can automate common tasks. Common tasks are a likely source of repetitive stress. If you often make the same 10 mouse movements, automating that process and binding it to a single keystroke might improve things dramatically.
Programs that change the way you type impose a learning curve. On the bright side, they can directly increase productivity. Not all such programs are marketed as ergonomically useful, but a good macro program or similar utility can reduce the stress on the user.
Make the best of a sore situation
Ergonomics offers you a rare opportunity to take charge of one way in which computers are not just frustrating, but actually physically painful or harmful to use. When you pay a little attention paid to ergonomic considerations, you can make your computer experience less frustrating.
Pay attention to what happens while you use the computer. If it hurts, something is probably wrong. (Uh, and STOP IT! if you can.) If you can keep the computer from actually injuring you, you'll find it much less frustrating when it's merely badly programmed.
This week's action item: Next time you're in a computer store, try typing a couple of sentences on every keyboard you find in the store. See which ones are most comfortable for you and compare them all.
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Visit the Typing Injury FAQ -- it has grown over the years and remains an excellent starting place for painless computing (That's the physical kind of pain: You still have to put up with the emotional pain of poorly written software).
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If you're curious, check out the Typing Injury FAQ's discussion on chording keyboards.
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Try xwrits under X11. The author uses it for reminders to take regular breaks. The rude gestures are, luckily, optional.
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For Mac users, check out MakBreakZ, a fairly flexible program to impose ergonomic breaks and recommend stretches. (A Windows version of the same program is called ergonomix.)
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Ever wonder why change is a very hard thing? Join the cranky user as he compares the baby duck syndrome to how you imprint on your first computer system (developerWorks, March 2005).
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In honor of tax time, check out the cranky user's ideas on the wonderful nature of forms design (developerWorks, April 2005).
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Read Part 1, The science of not hurting the user of this ergonomics discussion (developerWorks, May 2005).
- Browse for books on these and other technical topics.
- Visit the developerWorks Web Architecture zone. It specializes in articles covering various Web-based solutions.
- Get involved in the developerWorks community by participating in
developerWorks
blogs.
Peter's favorite saying is "No Pain, Some Gain." Swap keyboard stories with him at crankyuser@seebs.plethora.net.
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