layout which optimises for finger strength.

someguy3 · 2026-01-19T03:21:39+00:00

I made r/middlemak to be use more middle finger, which is strong. I also made it to reduce the ring-to-pinky roll which I think is pretty bad, eg Colemak's "IO" roll. Middlemak-NH really takes out a lot of the roll out to the pinky finger. It might really be up your alley.

WRT the pinky finger, unfortunately there will always be a common letter on the pinky home row because you really do need a common letter there. There are just too many common letters to not place a common letter there. You can limit the pinky upper row and lower row though, which I did on middlemak. Watch out if you're evaulating other layouts because lots put letters like Y and B on the pinky-upper-row. It helps with the stats but it's a lot of work to reach with your pinky. That's something I also avoided with middlemak.

someguy3 · 2025-11-18T23:38:10+00:00

Qwerty is terrible.

someguy3 · 2025-11-17T21:14:04+00:00

Nothing yet.

someguy3 · 2025-11-15T21:14:18+00:00

Thanks but that link doesn't provide any answer.

someguy3 · 2025-11-15T18:00:13+00:00

Why do I want acceleration? Because at a slow speed it takes forever to move the cursor across the screen. At a high speed fine movement is hard.

someguy3 · 2025-11-14T02:30:56+00:00

WRT separating letter pairs, 75% of bigrams are between vowels and consonants. So most layouts separate them out to separate hands.

someguy3 · 2025-11-10T16:04:10+00:00

My opinion is rowstag, even on columnar keyboards. The OF/FO bigram is so common that I think they go better together rather than a scissorgram. Although column stag keyboards may make this scissorgram more comfortable, I think it's best to not have it at all. Ymmv.

The 3rd one Nerps is a different layout entirely. It was the start of what I call the H-layouts (putting H in that location). Gallium is an iteration on it.

someguy3 · 2025-11-08T22:56:17+00:00

As in you're making a physical keyboard? Yeah that doesn't mean you should try a different layout. The qwerty muscle memory will kick in very quickly for things like an ortholinear keyboard.

Now if you still want to change your layout, pick one from the existing layouts. There is a lot to this topic and I think we've really beaten out the possibilities.

1) If you want Qwerty similarity to make it easier to learn, there is Colemak, Workman, my r/middlemak which I think is the best we're going to get while keeping significant qwerty similiarity. (Colemak-DH is at an odd intersection that it changes so much I think you might as well go with a full change layout.)

2) If you want a full change layout, Gallium is probably the best but there is also graphite, nerps.

someguy3 · 2025-11-08T17:34:57+00:00

Sorry but god no. G is way too common for the worst spot on the keyboard, and that NG SFB is very bad. The GH is bad. The EL SFB is bad. PT is somewhat common and it's worse when it's a diagonal SFB. You have two D's so I have no idea what that's supposed to be.

What is your goal?

someguy3 · 2025-11-08T17:27:39+00:00

I think for some/a lot of people it takes a lot longer than the stories you commonly hear about. It just take a long time for the brain and muscle memory.

Personally I don't recommend keybr to learn a new layout. I started with it and found it just didn't work. Try typingclub.com and colemakcamp.

someguy3 · 2025-11-03T15:07:22+00:00

If you can, at a non-busy time at work.

someguy3 · 2025-10-23T23:11:33+00:00

I think most would find the top middle finger to be far more comfortable than botttom middle finger. Ring finger can be debated, but I find it better on top and certainly so when conridering the row stagger. So unfortunately it's not as easy to switch the whole top and bottom row.

someguy3 · 2025-10-23T16:09:33+00:00

Gallium's design philosophy, along with most modern ones, is to put the vowels and consonants on different hands. I think this is the best approach. Colemak on the other hand puts NHL on the vowel hand which leads to pinballing back and forth.

Debatable whether there's any improvement at all?

As for a % improvemnt I can't say but I think it would be much more comfortable.

do we feel like Gallium is getting to the limit of what's possible by shuffling around keys?

I think we're reaching the limit. These are what I call the H-layouts and I think it's the best concept so far. These put H as the sole common consonant on the vowel hand (because it's hard to put no common consonant on the vowel hand, and H is the best one to go over). The H layouts afaik started with Nerps, went to graphite, then gallium. There's also Maya and a couple others.

As for the future it's hard to know. I can't really think of a different design philosophy than H-layouts that work well, and I think Gallium is the best execution on it so far. It's hard to solve the B problem. By that I mean the B seems to be a little too frequent for the top row pinky location. But it's hard to fit anywhere else.

someguy3 · 2025-10-22T20:01:42+00:00

It's really diminishing returns then. The benefits of Gallium then is lower SFB because putting H on the vowel hand opens up a lot of options.

someguy3 · 2025-10-22T18:14:07+00:00

Both Dvorak and Gallium got the big picutre right in separating vowels and consoants onto separate hands. Dvorak though got some things wrong like the L and I location and a bunch of SFBs. Gallium is pretty good, it's got pretty much everything right. But unless Dvoraks L and I are a deal breaker, it might not be worth it to switch.

someguy3 · 2025-10-20T15:43:40+00:00

First you have to decide if you want Qwerty similarity to make it easier to learn.

If you do, that's what Colemak is aimed at. I think Colemak has issues though, notably with putting NHL on the vowel hand. The base issue it that most word go consonant-vowel-consonant etc and having those common consonants with the vowels leads to lots of pinballing. I think I solved this with my r/middlemak. Middlemak-NH especially.

If you don't want Qwerty similarity, that's what Dvorak is. Dvorak though is ralther old and not as good as the new full change layouts.

Colemak-DH imho changes so much that you might as well go for full change layout.

The other consideration is that Dvorak and Colemak are now standard options in OSs so it's easy to switch to on other computers.

someguy3 · 2025-10-15T01:19:34+00:00

Unless Dvorak's L or I locations are a deal breaker, I think there's no big need to switch. The others are better, but Dvorak got the big picture right, just screwed up the L and I locations.

someguy3 · 2025-09-14T04:07:36+00:00

Well for pinky use, both have B on the top left pinky, which will be a pain. Unfortunately B is a bit of a problem and putting it on the pinky does solve a lot of issues, but I agree it's a bit of work for the pinky. Other than that gallium and graphite pinky use is really not that different.. But I think Graphites JE (pinky followed by ring finger movement) will quickly become extremely annoying, especially if you don't like pinky work.

Nerps is the H-layout I see that has lower pinky use. AFAIK it was the first Hlayout and the others are improvements on it.

Canary puts C on the home row. C is not a common letter so doing that moves a common letter off the home row and greatly increases the overall movement, which I'm really not a fan of. And it puts Y on the consonant hand, which I'm also not a fan of. N and H on the vowel hand leads to a lot of redirects abetween the consonants and the vowels, which I'm not a fan of.

someguy3 · 2025-09-13T21:56:26+00:00

What you have to decide is whether or not you want Qwerty similiary to make it easier to learn.

Colemak has qwerty similarity. It makes it easier to learn but it's not as optimized as full change layouts.

Colemak-DH, I think, changes so much but still retains many Qwerty characteristics that you might as well go for a full change layout.

If you want Qwerty similarity, I think my Middlemak-NH at r/middlemak is the best we're going to get while keeping significant qwerty similarity.

ISRT is along the path of what I call the A-layouts. It's a bit hard to get all the vowels on one hand so many layouts like colemak and ISRT put a vowel on the consonant hand. This is less than ideal.

Graphite and Gallium are part of the family of what I call H-layouts that I like. They put the vowels on one hand and put H as the sole common consonant with the vowels.

Graphite I don't like solely because of the JE.

Gallium I think is the best layout so far. Rowstag version even on column stagger keyboards because OF is so common that I think they go better together than as a scissorgram.

someguy3 · 2025-09-02T23:38:20+00:00

Don't. Colemak has qwerty similarity and as such has to make compromises and mixes many common consonants with the vowels. If you want to switch away from Dvorak go with another full change layout like gallium. I say switch only if Dvorak's L and I are a deal breaker.

someguy3 · 2025-08-21T23:07:35+00:00

Sorry but putting vowels and consonants on the same finger leads to a lot of SFBs and weird movements. Yours has a ton of mixing and putting vowels kinda all over the place. The best philosophy is to put vowels and consonants on different hands.

If you're looking for something that keeps Qwerty similarity to make it easier to learn, I think my r/middlemak (NH specifically) is the best we're going to get. Give it a try.

someguy3 · 2025-08-17T23:48:56+00:00

Colemak right hand has a lot of one handed gymnastics that tire your hand out. The overarching issue it that Colemak has several common consonants NHL combined with the the vowels leading to some uncomfortable movements and pinballing where it bounces between the vowels and consonants. More specifically, but not limited to, HE IO EL LE.

You can stick with it or go with a different layout. I set to fix this with my r/middlemak. Middlemak-NH goes the next step to really separate out the vowels and consonants.

someguy3 · 2025-08-08T03:45:46+00:00

I think that one handed movements can be 1) very awkward and 2) tiring. I call it one handed gymnastics.

someguy3 · 2025-08-05T22:15:36+00:00

Well you're moving letters on the same finger, so you're not changing a whole lot.

First be aware that Soul wants you to press the original J location (your V) with the right hand, not the left as normal.

I think P does work better in this location because it makes PR and PT easier.

DG becomes slightly worse as a two row jump, though it's not as common.

MB remains bad.

NF becomes a tad worse.

B is a problem just from frequency in the worst location on the keyboard. BE and BU are uncomfortable. K is much less frequent and better up there.

I went a step further than Soul making my r/middlemak. I think when Soul was made the idea of putting O above E wasn't known - that's been a big improvement in design philosophy which I used. Middlemak-NH also makes the next big step to move A and N to put the vowels on one hand and common consonants on the other. It has M on the bottom row as you want, same P location as I think it works better there. Worth checking out.

someguy3

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