Sturdy keyboard layout
Sturdy is a 2022 layout built with its creator’s own analyser, Oxeylyzer, for a very high share of smooth rolling finger sequences and almost no awkward redirects.
- Created by
- Oxey
- Author of the Oxeylyzer analyser
- Year
- 2022
- Finger travel
- −41%
- vs QWERTY
- Home row
- 63%
- of letters, QWERTY 37%
The layout
Sturdy for standard keyboards, typed with the angle mod; the full stop sits on the home row.
On a standard staggered keyboard Sturdy is typed with the angle mod: the left hand’s bottom row is struck one finger over. On ortholinear keyboards it is typed straight.
How Sturdy measures
Sturdy typed on 23,331 words of English and compared with QWERTY.
History
- 2022Oxey makes Sturdy with Oxeylyzer, his own analyser, choosing it over two other candidates. Most of the work, he says, went into the analyser.
- LaterSturdy becomes Oxeylyzer’s default output, and the starting point for Graphite.
Design goal: Very high rolls with as few redirects as possible, especially awkward ones away from the index finger, and light pinkies.
Pros
- Nearly half of all three-letter sequences are smooth rolls.
- Very few awkward redirects and scissor stretches.
- Light pinkies; the left ring finger hardly moves.
Cons
- The right hand does noticeably more of the work.
- Some pairs, such as SK, feel bad by its creator’s own account.
- The full stop sits on the home row, and on standard keyboards it relies on the angle mod.
Sturdy compared
Against QWERTY and other modern optimised layouts, ranked by finger travel per 1,000 words.
| Layout | Finger travel | vs QWERTY | Home row | Same finger | Alternation | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphite | 72.0 m | −45% | 67% | 0.9% | 66% | 48% |
| Hands Down Neu | 75.3 m | −42% | 65% | 1.0% | 68% | 51% |
| Semimak | 75.3 m | −42% | 64% | 0.9% | 64% | 47% |
| SturdyTHIS PAGE | 76.1 m | −41% | 63% | 1.0% | 61% | 44% |
| Engram | 77.8 m | −40% | 58% | 2.9% | 64% | 51% |
| Recurva | 79.6 m | −39% | 61% | 1.1% | 63% | 46% |
| Canary | 79.6 m | −39% | 62% | 0.9% | 60% | 44% |
| QWERTY | 130.0 m | — | 37% | 6.5% | 55% | 57% |
Sturdy was created by Oxey, the author of the Oxeylyzer analyser, in 2022.
It moves your fingers less. On 23,331 words of English, finger travel was −41% against QWERTY, 63% of letters landed on the home row against QWERTY’s 37%, and same-finger pairs were 1.0% against 6.5%. Less movement does not guarantee more speed, and switching takes weeks of practice.
On a standard staggered keyboard Sturdy is typed with the angle mod: the left hand’s bottom row is struck one finger over. On ortholinear keyboards it is typed straight.
Yes. Choose Sturdy as your keyboard layout and the on-screen keyboard and hands show where every key is.