I use Workman.
EDIT (2024-08-10T19:23Z): I should clarify that I am referring to the layout that you use for a physical computer keyboard, not a mobile/virtual keyboard.
QWERTY. i work on multiple environments that can’t always be accessed remotely, so that means I’m physically moving to different computers daily. It’s better for me to use the most common layout so that there’s as much consistency between systems as possible
QWERTY on a cheap Dell keyboard I’ve had for 12 years.
I’m sure some of the alternatives are objectively superior, but with all due respect to enthusiasts, I’m simply not passionate about it and have yet to be convinced that the time and pain spent on getting used to a new layout would actually be worth it in the long run.
Dvorak. Have been for years. Way less work to type the same speed as QWERTY.
My keyboard lays out flat on my desk. I don’t unfold the little legs underneath.
Pet theory: most Dvorak users were, in their pre-enlightenment lives, messy freestyle 3-finger typists. If you ever went to the trouble of formally learning to touch-type Qwerty, moving to another layout just seems impossibly foreboding. No way.
You become multilingual. It doesn’t transfer the same way you think. I type dvorak at home, qwerty at work, and qwerty on mobile. My brain somehow knows when to switch. The most common slip up I run into is that my brain gets confused with a laptop and sometimes I mix the two.
Pet theory: most Dvorak users were, in their pre-enlightenment lives, messy freestyle 3-finger typists.
Given that Dvorak tries to maximize alternating hands when typing consecutive characters [1], that theory definitely feels plausible given that the “hunt-and-peck” style for typing naturally seems to work with alternating hands. I think the same idea could also be applied to mobile typing as you only have two thumbs — perhaps Dvorak would lend itself well to mobile typing?
References
- “Dvorak keyboard layout”. Wikipedia. Accessed: 2024-08-10T23:00Z. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_keyboard_layout#Overview
Letters should be typed by alternating between hands (which makes typing more rhythmic, increases speed, reduces error, and reduces fatigue).
If you ever went to the trouble of formally learning to touch-type Qwerty, moving to another layout just seems impossibly foreboding.
It’s not that bad. By my experience, having gone from QWERTY to Dvorak to Colemak to Workman, it takes maybe an hour to memorize the keys, then it’s just a matter of practicing by using it. You will progressively get faster and faster as it becomes second nature. To get to full typing speed and for it to feel completely natural, however, it will likely take a month, depending on how often and how much one types.
Something interesting that I noticed, though, is that it seems that the brain is only to be able to know one keyboard layout well at a time. If I learn a new layout, I don’t maintain my skill with the previous layout minus the skill lost due to lack of practice. It almost feels entirely zero-sum. As I gain skill in one keyboard layout, I seem to equally lose skill in the previously known keyboard layout. I do try and maintain some level of proficiency with QWERTY, given that it is still the standard and is the most common, but it takes considerably more effort. It seems to be less acquiring a new skill and more rewiring the brain.
I use semimak mainly but use qwerty often and I feel like there’s no problem with using both at all. This is just my experience though. When I first learned Dvorak and dropped qwerty I completely lost qwerty but it came back really easily later when I started using it more
You’re absolutely right in my case. I somehow got really fast at three finger hunt and peck, and could do it without looking. But, my form was all over the place and the amount of wrist movement was causing me major wrist issues. I knew I could never unlearn my terrible qwerty technique, but I needed to learn proper touch typing, so I learned Dvorak
Interesting. Apart from the wrist issue, the strain of constantly moving one’s eyes from keyboard to screen and back is really underestimated IMO. To be able to keep your eyes fixed on one place while typing is a serious luxury. I sometimes think that learning to touch-type when I was 17 was the single most useful thing I have ever done. It took a week. And then, as I remember, just a few months to overtake my former typing speed.
