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{{attachment:TextIntro-Writing.png||align=right}} {{attachment:TextIntro-Writing.png|Writing methods can be useful for inconvenient environments, users not accustomed to typing, annotations or non-linear editing, or for ergonomic reasons. Writing with the finger is available on some devices, and may become a pattern eventually.|align=right}}

Slow Down, You’re Too Fast!

Some say he was doing it to annoy the writers. He may argue that it was because the adjacent alphabetized keys kept jamming up due interference when typing was too fast. For whatever reason, in the early 1870s, Christopher Latham Sholes, a newspaper editor and printer in Milwaukee, continued to redesign his keyboard layout on his early writing machine into ways that seemed nonsensical.

After studying letter-frequency pairs along with the guidance and support of his backer, James Densmore, Sholes separated the most commonly paired letters in his latest layout. In 1873, with that layout, he sold the manufacturing rights for his Sholes & Glidden Type-Writer to the company E. Remington and Sons.

In order to impress the customers, the workers at Remington made a slight change to the final key layout. They moved the letter “R” to the top row. This allowed their salesman to impress their customers by typing the brand name TYPE WRITER all from just one row. This became what is now known today as the QWERTY layout.

When the QWERTY keyboard was introduced, writers struggled to learn its layout. The key jamming problem was less problematic; however, typing speed along with user satisfaction was immediately reduced. Sales of the typewriter were poor. It wasn’t until 1878, when the Remington No. 2 model was released, which incorporated both lower and upper case letters, did sales and performance increase.

An Improved Design?

For the next 60 years, the Remington typewriter maintained success with little competition. In the 1930s, August Dvorak and his colleagues at the University of Washington were determined to create a new and improved keyboard layout. Dvorak wanted to create a keyboard layout that improved typing efficiency and time.

In 1936, he patented his Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (DSK). His design targeted the Sholes’ problems like hand overload, unbalanced finger loads, excess finger movements, and awkward strokes (Parkinson: 1972). Dvorak claimed through his testing that his design made typing faster, easier to operate, more accurate, and faster.

Failed Impact

Many critics have discounted Dvorak’s findings that his keyboard improved performance. Some argued that experimental setups and statistical analysis done on the SDK were flawed. In what appeared to be a positive promotion for Dvorak, the Navy in 1944 published a document documenting an increase in typist productivity by an average of 74%. With these results, the US Navy Department had planned on ordering 2,000 SDK typewriters. But the request was turned down by the Procurement Division of the U.S. Treasury Department who felt there would be too much financial risk.

The Status Quo

A variety of keyboard layouts, including two tablet methods, a 10-foot-UI using remote gestures and prediction, a virtual keypad with entry mode indicator, and a press-and-hold method to get to optional characters.

Whether or not the Dvorak keyboard is more efficient in time and performance, it never did gain popularity like the Qwerty layout achieved. People learned to use the Qwerty and dealt with it’s odd arrangement of letter placement. The Qwerty layout became the status quo.

Today, there exist several cultural variations of the Latin scripted QWERTY layout.

  • QWERTZ – Widely used in Central Europe and Germany.
  • AZERTY- Used in France and Belgium.
  • QZERTY – Used mainly in Italy on typewriters.

Note that cultures that are not based on Latin script use keyboard layouts based on their own language alphabet. And even before the typewriter, specialized users had non-alphabetical layouts; typesetters pulled letters from drawers laid out by frequency and size (you need more e's due to frequency so the slot they fit in is bigger), making their layout apparently random.

Use What’s Best for You

Writing methods can be useful for inconvenient environments, users not accustomed to typing, annotations or non-linear editing, or for ergonomic reasons. Writing with the finger is available on some devices, and may become a pattern eventually.

As we saw above, even though there may exist more efficient ways to input text, it’s essential to understand that people will use what they are comfortable with. Some people are comfortable with handwriting, others with keyboard input. Some may prefer to use a pencil, pen, or stylus. Default to the most common method they can be expected to be familiar with, and provide options.

Text & Character Input on Mobile Devices

When designing for mobile devices, understand that your users have different skills, preferences, and expectations when it comes to entering text on a device. If possible, provide multiple input options that they can choose from.

  • Use input controls and layouts already familiar to the user. Don’t introduce a new layout that requires them to learn an entire new process.
  • Consider the context. Will your users be using the device outside wearing gloves? If so, a capacitive touch screen becomes useless. Consider providing pen input or a hardware keypad as well, or instead.
  • Consider your target audience and their habits. According to the Neilson Company, American teens in 2010 send and receive an average of 3,339 text messages a month. A study done by Harris Interactive even found that 47% of teens can text with their eyes closed (mostly using 10-key devices and triple-tap entry). Another study done by PEW found that 72% of adults text, but average only 10 texts sent a day, compared to 50 a day by a teen.
  • Use functions that promote efficient and quicker input. Use assistive technology such as autocomplete and prediction during text entry. On mobile devices, limit the amount of unnecessary "pogo sticking" when using key controls. For example, when you begin entering a URL, consider the benefit of having a key or button labeled as ".com" predicatively appear.

Patterns for Text & Character Input Controls

Using Text & Character Input functions appropriately will increase efficiency, performance, and user satisfaction. Within this chapter, the following patterns will be discussed.

Keyboards & Keypads – Provides guidelines for text and numeric entry on mobile devices that use physical and virtual keyboards and keypads.

Pen Input – Provides an alternative input of method for users who are less familiar with keyboards or are more comfortable writing in gesture.

Mode Switches –Expands the capabilities of a keyboard or keypad without using up additional screen or hardware space.

Input Method Indicator – Explicit indicators are used to communicate the current mode of input the user has selected.

Autocomplete & Prediction –Provides assistive technology to reduce effort, errors, and time during text entry.

Text and Character Input (last edited 2012-09-13 21:27:07 by shoobe01)