Minimak keyboard layout
Minimak is a 2012 family of layouts that move as few as four keys from QWERTY, so you get part of an optimised layout’s benefit without relearning the keyboard.
- Created by
- Ted Lilley
- Year
- 2012
- Finger travel
- −21%
- vs QWERTY
- Home row
- 53%
- of letters, QWERTY 37%
The layouts
Minimak 4 swaps D, T, E and K in one loop: the smallest step away from QWERTY.
Minimak is typed with standard touch-typing fingering on any keyboard.
How Minimak measures
Minimak 4 typed on 23,331 words of English and compared with QWERTY.
History
- 2012Ted Lilley publishes Minimak for people unwilling to learn a whole new layout. Keys move in small loops, and only three change finger each time.
- TodayThe original website is gone, but the 4-, 8- and 12-key files survive on GitHub.
Design goal: Gain a meaningful share of an optimised layout’s benefit by moving as few keys as possible.
Pros
- The smallest possible first step: four keys change in the first version.
- Z, X, C, V, Q, W and A stay put, so shortcuts are unaffected.
- Staged versions let you move on only when you are ready.
Cons
- Smaller gains than a full optimised layout.
- Not built into any operating system.
- The project is dormant and its website is gone.
Minimak compared
Against QWERTY and other easy-transition layouts, ranked by finger travel per 1,000 words.
| Layout | Finger travel | vs QWERTY | Home row | Same finger | Alternation | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norman | 70.6 m | −46% | 69% | 6.3% | 57% | 53% |
| Asset | 74.4 m | −43% | 75% | 2.9% | 58% | 52% |
| QWPR | 74.9 m | −42% | 72% | 4.5% | 56% | 46% |
| Minimak 12THIS PAGE | 80.2 m | −38% | 68% | 4.3% | 56% | 46% |
| Minimak 8THIS PAGE | 87.5 m | −33% | 63% | 4.3% | 56% | 46% |
| Minimak 4THIS PAGE | 102.7 m | −21% | 53% | 4.3% | 56% | 46% |
| QWERTY | 130.0 m | — | 37% | 6.5% | 55% | 57% |
Minimak was created by Ted Lilley and published in 2012.
It moves your fingers less. On 23,331 words of English, finger travel was −21% against QWERTY, 53% of letters landed on the home row against QWERTY’s 37%, and same-finger pairs were 4.3% against 6.5%. Less movement does not guarantee more speed, and switching takes weeks of practice.
Minimak is typed with standard touch-typing fingering on any keyboard.
Yes. Choose Minimak 4 as your keyboard layout and the on-screen keyboard and hands show where every key is.