|
There's not much to add to the title of the question... I'd like to know if there's been any studies done on ergonomic keyboards and mice, and their effect on productivity. This might help me and others in deciding whether it's worth investing and getting used to new device(s), when considering the long-term gains. I am not very interested in personal experiences here, but rather looking for an actual study with a representative group of participants and statistically significant results. |
||||
|
|
As of the term "ergonomic" it should be immediatly clear, that at least concerning mice and keyboards, the "improvement" is in the "health" (or the strain on it, e.g. RSI) of the user not on his or her productivity! As noted before, due to the sub-optimal keyboard layout these days, there's not much you can do. Especially considering that you might not want to be unable to type anywhere (for your new employer, at a clients desk or in the hotel lobby business center), because they don't provide the other keyboard layout or a way to attach your beloved custom keyboard. The only productivity improvement that I see in this regard and about which also studies were made, are those of proper chairs, desks (variable in height) and flexible monitor arms etc. (like those produced by the company "Ergotron"). I don't know which (monitor) company it was, but they made a study about how much large(r) [in inch-diameters] and or double-/multi- monitors will improve your productivity in regard to typical office work. So, following up on this, it also depends on the type of work you (are expected to) do! Are you on the road much? Do you think, you can take those things with you? (I don't know about New Zealand, but if you go by train, it would be a bit of a hassle, it you go by car, ok.) Or are you just in your nerdy closed-door room ;) or a cubicle? What kind or work do you usually have to do, e.g. CAD vs. Excel? I think you won't be able to do CAD or similar without the keyboard, but sure I heard you're able to navigate around Excel just by keyboard! ;) Thus the improvement in productivity from the "micro" perspective, would be in more speed through learning the keyboard shortcuts. But as said, more information would help, as I don't think you can seriously answer this question even if we'd assume you're a "white collar worker / office drone"! Because there are so many different kinds of office jobs. And many of the older folks rarely using their PC and still making loads of money (mostly using their pens, text markers and the phone) would declare you as crazy. But luckily you're in the safe haven of "productivity.stackexchange". ;) |
|||||
|
|
One possible productivity gain for you may be to change the keyboard layout (rather than the physical keyboard) to the Dvorak layout. The Wikipedia article cites that there has been little in the way of scientific studies done recently to support the claims that the layout is more efficient, but there is a fairly vocal community of users who do swear by the layout. One reported benefit of using Dvorak is that it results in a more "ergonomic" use of the fingers, relieving RSI related symptoms. For a pro analysis see Dissenting Opinions. |
|||
|
|
This answer will probably be considered on a tangent too, but the truth is that the main point of ergonomic devices such as mice and keyboards is to "maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort" (quote from thefreedictionary), so you're unlikely to find studies that measure pure productivity gain without concentrating on health/comfort effects. Yes, technically ergonomics isn't only about fatigue and comfort, but that's how most people see it and that's what computer peripheral manufacturers are going for. The extent to which you'll see productivity improvement with an ergonomic keyboard depends mostly on whether you're currently experiencing any fatigue or discomfort. If you aren't, then ergonomic keyboards that are simply shaped a bit differently, have easier-to-press keys, and such, but keep the same key layout, are unlikely to do much for you. There are some keyboards that also claim to directly improve productivity by useful and sensibly located shortcut keys and such, which may or may not go together with an ergonomic physical design. (see "hotkeys" for the Kinesis Freestyle keyboard for an example). With mice there's a bit more variability, since they don't all stick to the same layout. Having additional easy-to-reach buttons you can customize to perform commonly-used actions will obviously decrease the time it takes you to do these actions, but the shape of the device may or may not help depending on whether you have trouble with your current one. |
|||
|
|
|
I'm not sure about productivity benefits, but I know that using an ergonomic mouse has cleared up the RSI I used to get in my right index and middle fingers (clicking and using the scroll wheel). Having a bunch of extra buttons around my thumb has eased the load on the rest of my fingers as well. For the record, this is the mouse I now have: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/mice/devices/5845 |
|||
|
|
|
We're using Advantage Pro and it is outstanding! I'd said must have for programmers ;) In combination with VIM it gave real boost.
|
||||
|
|
|
Just a tiny-mini-little change in my setup that has turned my regular mouse into a much less torturing tool:
I alternate the regular mouse: one week at my right hand, one week at my left hand. I have also a pen tablet, that helps change the position of the hand. And a touch pad I only use at home. It made the pain disappear, so really improve my typing productivity. Though this doesn't really answer the OP question, I think it's still related. |
|||
|
|
