Anson D, George S, Galup R, Shea B, Vetter R
College Misericordia, 301 Lake Street, Dallas, PA 18612, USA.
Assist Technol. 2001;13(1):40-5. doi: 10.1080/10400435.2001.10132032.
There is little available evidence for claims of the efficiency of alternative keyboard layouts. Part of the difficulty in providing such evidence is that available research subjects typically have extensive experience with the standard keyboard, making a fair comparison of keyboard layouts difficult. The purpose of this study was to provide a true comparison of the QWERTY and Chubon keyboard layouts for individuals who type with a single digit by neutralizing prior experience through an inversion of the QWERTY keyboard. A single-subject, repeated measures design was used with a convenience sample of nine participants. Each participant began typing on a preselected keyboard and continued typing until fluency was achieved. This procedure was replicated with each keyboard layout. The words per minute typed at fluency for the Reverse QWERTY was approximately 62% of the QWERTY, indicating that the learned effect had been erased. The average typing speed of the Chubon was at least 5% higher and at most 51% higher than the Reverse QWERTY. There were no significant patterns of error. Results of this study indicate that the biomechanical layout of the Chubon is superior to that of the Reverse QWERTY and, by extension, to that of the QWERTY. Additional research is needed to expand knowledge of the effectiveness of the various alternative keyboard layouts.
关于替代键盘布局效率的说法，几乎没有现成的证据。提供此类证据的部分困难在于，现有的研究对象通常对标准键盘有丰富的经验，这使得对键盘布局进行公平比较变得困难。本研究的目的是通过颠倒QWERTY键盘来消除先前的经验，从而为单指打字的个人提供QWERTY键盘和楚邦键盘布局的真实比较。采用单受试者重复测量设计，选取了9名参与者作为便利样本。每个参与者开始在预先选定的键盘上打字，并持续打字直到达到流畅程度。每个键盘布局都重复这个过程。倒序QWERTY键盘达到流畅程度时每分钟打字的字数约为QWERTY键盘的62%，这表明学习效应已被消除。楚邦键盘的平均打字速度比倒序QWERTY键盘至少高5%，最多高51%。没有明显的错误模式。本研究结果表明，楚邦键盘的生物力学布局优于倒序QWERTY键盘，进而优于QWERTY键盘。需要进行更多的研究来扩展对各种替代键盘布局有效性的认识。
