Re: A product design project

I don't see why I didn't think of mentioning this before:

Nobody ergonomics should be taken seriously. Most people will say that
you should just deal with whatever situation you're given--the amount of
breaks, type of keyboard, structure of the organization. They take pride
in working in painful conditions; they ignore that pain is an indicator
of an unhealthy environment. Thus, they strongly oppose change.

Anyone why has realized that they should not feel pain will take new
keyboards seriously. The problem then becomes the cost. Because it's
produced in such small quantities, (I assume,) more ergonomic computer
equipment is much more expensive than the alternatives. I always wanted
to try all of the different keyboards I read about on this group, but I
never felt I could afford one. It's rather messed-up that I only got a
better keyboard when I absolutely could not stand my old one anymore.

Thomas Levine


On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 12:57 +0000, matzkelon wrote:
> Hello people.
> 
> I am an Industrial Designer working on my diploma project.
> My subject is a text-entry alternative product.
> 
> So far, my initial research covered existing products and methods for
> text entry, and my conclusions should not surprise the lot of you.
> I have covered about five or more methods of text entry (I would dare
> not limit myself to depressing keys), the QWERTY hell and the lacking
> products in the category of "Alternative Keyboards".
> 
> The common buyer is a lazy one. Unless a person has to, he will not
> dare sit and learn a new method - or even a better layout. This caused
> the market to drift to people who have suffered injuries and issues
> due extensive typing and may not be able to go on using a normal
> keyboard.
> 
> In such a market, products are dealt with as "ergonomic products" in a
> fashion similar to orthopedic shoes. They are not desirable like
> common sexy products and never breach the barrier to the global market
> outside the health-related consumer crowd.
> 
> Based on the fact that the market size is so small, the products are
> not as refined or of high quality like their gaming product peers. The
> gaming market is much larger and only there we see quality materials
> and machining, refined ergonomics and efficiency - in a word, good
> designs. Good designs are made available through large-scale
> production.
> 
> As of today, a lot of research was made to find alternative methods
> for typing and solving ergonomic problems - they just never got to
> manifest in quality products. Even the DataHand which I see mentioned
> everywhere I go has a lot of problems and it was not refined since
> more than a few years (please correct me if I am wrong. I am only just
> dipping into the subject).
> 
> As a project beginning in an academic frame, I can allow myself to set
> free of these limitations and design a project focused on an
> efficient, desirable product made for large-scale production and to a
> global market - fitting both people who suffer from current keyboards
> and people who think ahead and are not suffering yet.
> 
> This document is more of less my introduction to you and an
> introduction of my project. I would be delighted to have you support
> me in my research. I would love to have your feedback and plan on
> asking the community some questions soon. Your response could very
> well make a difference as design projects (especially academic) are
> covered extensively in blogs and magazines.
> 
> Thank you very much!
> I hope I did not wear you out entirely.
> -Eyal M.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  


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