Is there a keyboard layout that is better than Qzerty?
For the PC - probably not.
However, we are now well and truly in the post-PC era (still lots of users, but sales of both laptops and PCs are in permanent decline).
For the touchscreen era - QWERTY/AZERTY/QWERTZ is nothing short of a usability nightmare - error rates are up, and speeds are way, way down.
The reason?
QWERTY was designed as:
- a piece of desk-bound furniture
- with tactile buttons
- to be operated with both hands
- and all 10 fingers
- while seated
- following a lengthy training period
Touchscreen keyboards are:
- go-anywhere devices
- with touch-sensitive buttons
- to be held in the hand
- and operated with one (or maybe 2) fingers/thumbs
- while wandering through a crowded shopping centre
- with no training whatsoever
And look at QWERTY on a touchscreen:
- tiny, smaller, than your fingertip keys
- square keys (ever met anyone with square fingertips?)
- all bunched right next to each other
It's nothing short of a usability nightmare.
A good touchscreen keyboard should be:
- Fingertip friendly
- Easy to learn
- Easy to navigate
- Adaptable to as many different styles of text entry as possible:
- one finger or one thumb
- two thumbs
- all five fingers (for tablets)
To meet these challenges, we've developed a touchscreen solution called Dextr: