For this week’s update, we’ve decided to make a video of it as well!
Apart from creating educational videos, we also want to start creating more videos talking about our manufacturing updates and our software development, just like how we used to back in the day!
If you prefer to watch instead of reading, check out the video here:
Impacts of COVID-19 to the world and Dygma
Our hearts go out to everyone who has been deeply affected by the coronavirus. As some parts of the world slowly heal, there are still some countries that need aid. We wish that everyone is keeping safe, healthy, and positive during these trying times 🙏
Experts say that the impact of the coronavirus to the global economy will be the worst it’s ever been in history. We know that many companies and individuals have been negatively affected by this pandemic and we’re no exemption.
In the industrial world, many manufacturing companies have either shut down or increased the prices of their products.
When China was closed for 3 months, many companies had to stop production. (China’s share of global gross domestic product was 19.24% in 2019 😳)
Now that China is back, there has been an influx of orders coming in worldwide. Because of the high demand, factories would only do work for big multinational companies who had the money to pay more.
Small companies, such as ourselves, have less leverage in this situation. In terms of priorities, we’re last in line. If we want our factories to deliver quality goods or to finish production on time, we would need to pay a higher price. This also made it hard for us to find certain materials at an affordable cost.
One other major industry that has been hit by this pandemic is the global travel and shipping industry. This affects us greatly because shipping costs have now doubled. To pay a similar price as before, we would need to send a large % of our keyboards by sea freight instead of air, which takes 3 times longer.
Another thing to account for is the travel ban. Our Product Manager, Manel, can no longer travel to China to oversee production.
In the previous batch of mass production, Manel would travel 2-3 times to visit our factories.
You can watch some of the videos we’ve made during his trips here:
Inside the factories that create your keyboard
Better quality control (QC) means keyboards will be first shipped to Spain
For the second batch, we really want to heighten our quality control. We mentioned in our previous updates that we’re improving the quality of our palm pads, cables, connectors, keycaps, and travel case.
And because of the crisis, we’ve decided that all keyboards will be shipped first to Spain. Once here, we will open, test, and flash each keyboard (this process will also be done in China) before shipping them to customers.
Those that don’t pass this extra QC, will be discarded. This extra process may cause delays but we want all keyboards that are sent out to be perfect. Although that may be improbable, we don’t think it’s impossible. We aim to deliver a high-end keyboard and that’s what we want to accomplish :)
But more than that, we also want to increase Raise’s value for users. That’s why we’ve planned to include goodies with the next batch. The purpose of these goodies is to enhance the users’ experience with the Raise.
Goodies that will enhance user experience with the Raise
50cm usbc- to usb-c cable
We want users to enjoy and learn the ergonomic benefits of the Raise.
Ideally, you should have both sides of the Raise shoulder-width apart. Having your keyboard set up this way will allow you to open up your chest more and minimize slouching, which can lead to back pain, a common issue many gamers or coders experience.
In the beginning, we thought people would already know this. But we realized that this wasn't obvious for many. And not giving a longer cable made it more difficult for them to realize. We also didn’t want customers to be hassled into buying a new cable, so we simply decided to include it in the next batch :)
You can even use the Raise on the sofa while it's connected to your TV, if that’s your kinda thing 😉
Transparent o-rings
Not many people know about o-rings, but we know that many users will like them and will use them.
O-rings are placed underneath the keycaps to dampen the sound your keycaps make when they hit the keyboard. Not only that, but they also reduce the travel distance of your keys, which means that the keys will bounce back faster, and as a result, you will be able to type or game faster.
Since our goal is to improve the user’s performance with our keyboard, we decided this accessory was a necessary add-on with the Raise.
Cleaning kit
The last goody is the cleaning kit, which includes a crap remover and 2 cleaning cloths.
We consider the Dygma Raise a professional tool; the same way when you buy an expensive camera, you take care of it.
It’s common for dust, hair, and basically, crap, to get stuck in between your keycaps. Having a cleaning brush to dust off all the crap that has accumulated on your keyboard and a cleaning cloth to wipe down any impurities, will help users be more conscious of taking care of their Raise. And when users take care of their keyboard, its lifespan will be longer.
Now we could sell all of these as extras, but we believe that providing them for free will improve the user experience for everyone and will increase the keyboard’s value.
But these goodies are really just the tip of the iceberg!
We want to improve every aspect of the Raise, most especially, our software, Bazecor.
Automatic layer creation
We plan to create an automatic layer creation so that when people buy the Raise, they can answer a questionnaire that will be used to create a custom layer for them.
This goes in line with our vision of having smart technology that will improve a user’s performance.
**We are currently looking for testers to test the automatic custom layers designed for left-handed users. It's a must that you use the left hand for the mouse at least 75% of the time. If you're interested, please sign-up here: https://airtable.com/shrNOANZXG2WkwfOS
We understand that there is a learning curve in using the Raise split. There is also a slight learning curve in using the custom layouts. So we plan to create a practice tool so that people get used to the custom layers easily.
If you have any suggestions for these practice or training tools, write them down below!
More educational content
We’ve been slowly getting our Youtube channel up and running again. We’ve posted our most recent video, From Laptop Keyboard to Ergonomic Split Mechanical Keyboard, with the objective of informing people what to expect when transitioning from these two different types of keyboards.
We want to create similar content that talks about how the Raise can solve many problems that people may or may not be aware of. These topics can include:
- How the Raise can help you if you have a small desk space
- How a better computer setup can help alleviate discomforts or pains
- How to improve your touch typing
And many more!
The Raise has a lot of benefits and we feel we haven’t done a good job communicating this information properly. So you can expect to see these new content in the next few months! If you haven’t subscribed to our Youtube, go on and subscribe now 😊
We're here to help and we'll do our best to provide excellent service!
We’ve recently made our Help Center public. We want our customers to have all the information they need about the Raise.
We’ve also started offering video calls to people who have been experiencing issues with their Raise or who need assistance in configuring their layouts. We feel that in this digitally-driven world, talking to a customer via video call just gives that human element that all of us need once in a while. We are offering a 20-minute call to everyone who has bought the Raise.
If there’s an issue you’d like to talk about, just send us an email and we’ll schedule a video call.
So now, the question that is on everyone’s mind...
When does the shipment of the second batch begin?
Initially, we had mentioned that shipment will commence mid-June.
However, due to different factors which we have talked about in our updates - like the problems with the test jigs and having to first ship the keyboards here to Spain - we are now estimating to start sending keyboards customers by the end of June. The most likely scenario is we ship most keyboards to customers in July.
We hope you understand our situation. And in any case, we’ll continue to keep you all updated with our developments!
Next week we'll be sharing our manufacturing updates so we’ll have more information then!
A little sneak peek, we’re already starting the production of the DVT units, which are the first test units of the second batch.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this update. Feel free to drop a comment or ask us a question! Catch you next week!
Till then!
