Homerow Improvements for Touch Typists - A 3-Month Real Life Experiment Turns Standard Keybords to Ergonomic

The present study asks the question: To what extent can the ergonomics of keyboards already present at the workplace be increased by “minimally invasive” changes?To investigate this, we measure 300 standard operations several times to build a baseline phase. Then we let the partizipands perform their normal daily work for 3 months. During these 3 months, we provide to them a potpourri of 800 keycaps in different colors - most importantly: different shapes and heights. They are allowed to try everything: exchange single caps, multiple caps or leave everything as it is. After 3 months, we perform the same 300 measurements under the same conditions.We found strongly modified keyboards, which were “tailored to the hands” of the partizipands. At all participands, “orthopedic profile progression curvatures” emerged independently of each other. The measured values improved significantly: the time needed decreased on average by 20 %, the eye switches decreased by 42 %. Above all, the almost halved eye switches significantly unburdened the partizipands in everyday life.