At Dygma, we believe that when you buy a premium product, you should receive a complete premium experience. Most companies focus mainly on the hardware and the unboxing, but for us, having a seamless experience with the software is also part of that premium package.
That's why, even though our configurator software looks beautiful and is very easy to use, we keep thinking and working on improving it.
And today, we want to share with you an idea that we have to redesign the main screen where you edit the layout of your keyboard.
Discovering the new layout editor
For a long time, we've had two views available for the layout editor: standard view and single view.
The standard view is the default view, designed for new users. You select a key and choose the one to replace it in the pop-up menu. If you want other features, like layers, macros or superkeys, you'd need to navigate through the submenus, which include explanations of what each function does.
The single view is a compact view that allows you to access all those features on one screen, but there are very few explanations of what everything does.
The thing is that the standard view is a bit too cumbersome to use (it requires too many clicks), and many people don't explore all the features. Some don't even realize there's a "single view". Furthermore, some features, like dual-function keys or even shortcuts, are pretty tricky to understand because of how they have to be configured.
What if we could design one view that is more intuitive to use than the standard view while still being fast for advanced users? Let me show you the new layout editor for Bazecor.
A new layout editor for all
The first thing you'll notice, of course, is that there's just one view that's always present at the bottom of the keyboard. Once you select a key, you can reassign it or combine it with modifiers to create shortcuts.
In that regard, it's similar to the single view but simplified. That way, the core function –reassigning keys– is super fast and intuitive for everybody. We've then moved other features to the side menu. That way, we have more room to make it easier to configure and explain how each feature works.
In the layers menu, you can assign layer shifts and then turn them into layer lock, one-shot layers or add a key on tap (more on that later). In the advanced modifiers menu, you can configure one-shot modifiers and add a key on tap for that modifier.
The rest are pretty self-explanatory: you can assign macros, superkeys, media keys, mouse keys and wireless functions. Most of these features (like layers, mouse, and wireless) were already under dropdown menus in the single view, so configuring them still requires the same number of clicks for advanced users.
Other features like macros and superkeys require an additional click, but we're working on improving that. But what we believe is a significant improvement is how you configure your dual-function keys. It is much more intuitive now.
For those of you who don't know what a dual-function key does, it's a key that can output a normal keypress when you tap it and a modifier or layer shift when you hold it. For example, you can have SPACE on tap and CTRL on hold. Or Backspace on tap and a Layer shift on hold.
Before, you needed to select a key, and then the software would let you "add a dual function". But if you didn't know what a dual-function key was, it'd be unlikely that you did that.
What do you think of the new layout editor?
And that's basically it. What do you think of this new layout editor? Do you like it? Would you have done something different?
If you want to try it out for yourself, you can do so at dygma.com/bazecor-testing
We really want to hear from you; this is just the first iteration of the idea, and we still need to polish a lot of stuff, so your feedback is critical in shaping it. We're also open to disregard it if you don't like it 😅
