Short usability commentary

[wiredferret]

It makes ZERO sense to have a QWERTY keyboard on something that has a totally different typing methodology. Teeny full keyboards should not be QWERTY. They should be alphabetical, as pretty much everyone can find things that way. Holding on to a keyboard layout only makes sense because it benefits touch-typists, and even quasi-touchers. The QWERTY

Comments

[windelina]

I admit I'm a minority - but as a touch-typist for years, I'm at a distinct disadvantage when it's not a QWERTY. I know where the letters are on a QWERTY - having to look/think alphatically slows me down.

But I am, admittedly, a minority.

[polyfrog]

I'm not sure you are.
I am not a classically-trained typist at all; I type using a total of about five fingers (Left thumb and index and right thumb, index, and middle, with occasional ring). My phone has a QWERTY keyboard. My label printer, an ABCDEF keyboard.

Even though I'm not "typing" on either one, I nevertheless am quicker at finding the letters on the phone than on the label printer.

[moondancerdrake]

Alphabetical would certainly be easier.

[talkswithwind]

A parent of a teenager in my office was telling us a story the other day. Apparently his son can touch type T9 readably. It is the new way to pass notes in school these days, especially if you can still have eyes front while your thumbs are working out a txt-message.

[wiredferret]

I can see that, except I need to sometimes check which of multiple possible words I was getting. But the typing itself was not much harder than 10-key.

[talkswithwind]

If you've done enough T9 to have memorized all the short-cuts, touch-typing is a lot easier with it. I just marveled at the dedication that takes. But then, young brains = sponge, so I shouldn't be surprised.

[mmpantsless]

I respectfully disagree. Don't take away my QWERTY. If my Blackberry had an alphabetic keyboard instead of the wonderful qwerty that is does have, my typing speed would at least be cut in half.

[hypatia_j]

At the risk of being pedantic, there's usability research that says staying with qwerty is the better option.

Users who can't type using qwerty will hunt and peck on either qwerty or alphabetic keyboards. Knowing the alphabet doesn't actually help much, since there's nothing particularly intuitive about where the alphabet breaks for the 3 rows of keys.

Qwerty users will hunt-and-peck on alpha and type efficiently on a qwerty keyboard, since they get a benefit, and non-users get no penalty, qwerty is still here to stay.

[wiredferret]

Pedantic is good. I like it.

But is persistence of key location really typing when you can only hit it with your thumbs? I think part of my confusion on why we are wedded to querty is that I can only remember where letters are by moving my fingers. There is not a stop for identifying the letter by name before I reach for it. Which, I suppose, is the essence of touch-typing.

The little keyboard is infinitely faster than T9 for me, in part because I use a lot of non-standard language in my personal life, and it is faster to input it correctly the first time, than teach the chip and then select the word. But it's not because I can type on it.