You wouldn’t run an ultramarathon in Vibram FiveFinger shoes if you could instead opt for cushy, cloud-like Hokas. So, if you do a lot of typing, it’s worth asking yourself if a standard-issue keyboard is the best tool for the job.
The Nuon team is heavily distributed, and from frequent communication on Slack to daily coding, there’s a constant need for a high volume of typing. For us and our needs, split keyboards are the Hokas of the typing world. Their science-fiction aesthetic is the product of their hyper-focus on ergonomics. They’re popular here because the ability to comfortably type for long periods of time perfectly aligns with Nuon's culture of heavy experimentation and optimizing every aspect of our workflow.
A Culture of Encouragement
Split keyboards aren't cheap, and that's a real barrier for curious folks who want to dip their toes in. Worse, the ecosystem is vast. There are so many flavors out there, you can burn through several before finding one that clicks (pun intended). It's an investment of both money and time.
At Nuon, we're fortunate to have leadership that walks the walk. Our founder and CEO, Jon Morehouse, is a devoted Kinesis Advantage2 user and has fostered an internal culture that encourages people to explore split keyboards. That encouragement is genuine. He's even gifted a Kinesis Advantage2 to one of our engineers in India.
The result? Roughly 40% of Nuon employees are avid split keyboard users. That's not a mandate, it's organic adoption fueled by curiosity and peer support.
Humble Beginnings
When I joined Nuon, I was initially curious but hesitant about using a split keyboard. I had briefly used a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard before, so I understood the theoretical health benefits firsthand. But for the longest time I was stubborn and unwilling to fully dedicate myself to a split keyboard because, as a PC gamer, it felt unnatural to me for gaming. That changed as I spent less time gaming in my adult years.
The strain on my right pinky from using a standard ANSI keyboard layout, especially for typing all the symbols needed as a software engineer, became a significant issue. The frequent stretches to reach symbol keys, along with the constant reaching for common keys like Shift, Delete, and Return, led to a repetitive strain injury (RSI). The pain grew so severe that I had to start using a pointing device exclusively with my left hand to give my right hand a break.
Encouraged by Jon, I spent my remote office stipend on a Kinesis Advantage 360, believing its design would address my needs. On this keyboard, frequently used keys like Delete, Return, and Tab are controlled by your thumbs rather than your pinky fingers. This shift was difficult, and my typing speed dropped to a dreadful 20 words per minute on the first day. Getting used to having my thumbs do so much more work required completely rewiring my brain.
Initially, the Kinesis 360, a modern, compact version of the Kinesis Advantage2, was great. However, this changed the first time I traveled with it. The term "compact" is relative, and having to lug it around made me seriously doubt if the split form factor was right for me. I began to feel like the expensive purchase was a mistake.
Split Keyboard Retry
My research into truly compact keyboards for travel led me to the Corne keyboard, an open-source keyboard. This was a tiny keyboard that required your time to learn and forced you to think about your own personal keyboard layout.
As I considered my major gripes with traditional keyboards, I began fiddling with the idea of distributing symbol keys across both hands instead of forcing my left pinky to handle all of them. This concept immediately connected dots for me. It wasn't just about coding ergonomics; it offered a solution to the RSI I'd accumulated from years of PC gaming, balancing a mouse in my right hand with modifier key gymnastics on my left. I finally had a way to bring balance to my keystrokes.
Six to Seven Months
Moving from my Kinesis 360 to the Corne keyboard was a methodical, six-month journey. Instead of rushing the adjustment, I took my time to refine a personalized layout. The philosophy behind the Corne keyboard is elegant: no key should be more than one key away from your fingertips’ resting keys.
What drew me in even further was the 36-key variation, which allows for as little finger movement as possible.This flexibility is often enhanced by using custom firmware like ZMK, which allows users to truly customize their layout to tailor it to their personal typing style and preferences. That became my ultimate goal.
I initially used a Kinesis Advantage 360 but reduced the usables keys down to 42 keys, where the physical key arrangement mimics the keymap of a 42-key Corne keyboard. Once I settled on a comfortable arrangement, I found myself constantly adjusting the configuration. It took about two months to find a keyboard config that made me confident in switching to the Corne keyboard full time. Once I switched over I started to design a smaller 36-key layout by dropping the outermost column from each half of the Corne keyboard. This final layout required another three to four months of iteration. I've accepted that the pursuit of the "perfect" layout is an ongoing process, and that continual refinement provides an endless stream of micro sparks of joy.
Embracing Layers and Home Row Mods
To use a keyboard this small effectively, you need to be comfortable with layers. Layers are not a foreign concept; your Shift key is an example of a layer used to access uppercase letters and symbols. Another helpful comparison is the difference between a gaming joypad and a traditional keyboard and mouse. Game designers can pack the same set of actions into a joypad by leveraging techniques like layers and chording. My gaming mindset kicked in, and as a massive fan of the Steam Controller, customizing a limited set of buttons was a familiar task. With a 36-key layout, I ended up with six distinct layers:
- Base: Home row mods and basic letters
- Number (layer 1 or 2): Number row access
- Symbol (layer 3): All the brackets, operators, and punctuation
- Navigation (layer 1 & 2 held together): Arrow keys, page up/down, home/end
- Function (layer 4 or 5): F-keys and media controls
To illustrate how all the keys from a traditional keyboard can fit onto this small-form-factor keyboard, I’ll explain the three main layers: the Base, Number, and Symbol layers.
Base layer
The base layer is active by default. I stuck with the tried and true QWERTY layout. This keeps my typing experience pure. I did not want to remap all my keys in Vim or other programs since I had already built muscle memory for them.
The base layer includes "layer taps," which are keys designated by an adjacent number and symbol or character. When tapped, they execute their assigned key function, but when held down these keys shift the keyboard to a new layer. For example, the key marked "1" acts as a backspace when tapped, but shifts to layer 1 when held. My personal preference is to use my thumbs for these layer shifts, particularly for frequently accessed layers such as numbers and symbols.
Home row mods live in the base layer. In my opinion, home row mods are nearly essential to make a layout this small work well. The idea is simple: your home row keys act as normal keys when tapped, but double as modifiers when held. Your home row keys are ASDF for your left hand and JKL; for your right hand. So, your resting fingers are already on Shift, Control, Option, and Meta without moving your fingers. The left- and right-hand home rows mirror each other on modifier key orientation. It takes some getting used to, but once it clicks, reaching to lower rows for a modifier key on a traditional layout feels ancient.
Numbers Layer
The number layer is intentionally simple. Since the physical keyboard lacked the space for a dedicated number row, I designed the layer to be activated by holding down a thumb cluster key (typically used for backspace or space). This approach allows me to maintain the muscle memory of reaching for the upper row to input numbers.
Symbols Layer
The symbols layer is accessed by holding down either the Delete or Enter key on the thumb cluster. To promote balanced usage, symbols are distributed across both the left and right hands. For instance, the left hand manages open brackets while the right hand handles closed brackets. This equal distribution eliminates the strain of overextending the right fingers, which previously felt like an endless workout.
Refining this layer took the most time, as it was challenging to achieve a layout that felt completely intuitive for coding. Ultimately, this layer had the most significantly positive impact, substantially reducing my RSI symptoms.
A guiding principle in my layout design is maintaining familiarity: we use QWERTY, we reach up for numbers, and the placement of symbols for the shifted number row is kept exactly the same. This strategic approach ensures that my layout and daily typing tasks never overwhelm my cognitive load. It also leaves the door open for me to jump back to a traditional ANSI layout.
Nuon Keeb Gallery
We've got quite the collection of split keyboards in the wild at Nuon. Here's a glimpse of what our team is typing on:
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If you are into keyboards and want to solve hard problems, join us!