The problem we’re solving

I’ve had wrist pain since high school because of tennis, and that got worse when I started working full-time as a software engineer. I did a ton of research to find a good ergonomic keyboard to reduce the pain. The one I landed on (Kinesis Freestyle2) gets the job done, but there’s so much that I wish was better about it.

The design feels cheap. It’s almost entirely plastic, has unnecessary wires, and tons of wasted space (outlined in red below). Not to mention that to make it ergonomic, you have to buy plastic tenting legs which cost about half what the keyboard does.

When I did even more research on better options, I couldn’t find any. It’s a non-starter for me to have a standard layout that I don’t need to relearn. These are decent keyboards but just not for me because of that:

As a guy with wrist pain, I’m a captive user. I need an ergonomic keyboard and because of that I put up with a product that is passable. But why does that need to be the case?

Why couldn’t there be an ergonomic keyboard that is satisfying and delightful? One that is ergonomic, but only as much as it needs to be. One that’s simple and intuitive.

That is what I intend to build. If you’re curious to see how it plays out, then subscribe to follow along. I’ll share everything I learn in the process of solving this problem.

Thanks for reading,
Ryan Peterman