Delta II Typing Simulator
QWERTY version, click for AZERTY (European) version
Important: Try each
keypad at least twice, ideally four times each. It may take a minute or two of
typing for your mind to "lock in" the Delta II matrix.
Think of Delta II as your PC keyboard - the letter Q
is toward the upper left, M is toward the lower right, etc. The
more you relax, the faster you will type.
Using the stopwatches above, determine your
typing speed on the three different keypad types.
Do not use your mouse to type!
Using your mouse results in unrealistically large target activation times.*
Instead, you can use your eyes, or better yet
(faster), hold your hand anywhere between you and your computer screen and "air
type" with your finger. Rest your elbow on your desk or chair arm if you
like. Typing this way best approximates your real world, single-hand (finger, thumb
or stylus) typing speed. You can also use both hands (fingers) plus your thumb (for
the space bar), to simulate typing on the keypad while it is lying on a desk. Using
both fingers best recruits your motor memory reflexes, yielding maximum typing speeds.
If you prefer to type on something, you can print the keypads and a test form to "type" on and
record your typing speeds.
Familiarize yourself with the stopwatches, the
sentence to type, and the three keypads.
When ready, click Start below
the cell phone you are timing.
Using the typing method described above,
"type" the sentence you see in the phone display onto the keypad.
Click Stop when you are done
typing the sentence (you can also use the space bar to stop, reset, start, etc.).
You will see your elapsed time, word-per-minute (WPM) typing speed and corresponding bar
Reset sets the timer back to
zero and clears the bar graph for another try.
To ensure an accurate comparison, you should
try each keypad approximately the same number of times as the others before leaving a
"good" speed up for comparison, and moving on to the next phone.
Repeat steps 1 - 5 for the other two cell
It is normal for new users to stall
(pause to search for letters) when first typing on the above keypads. The stalling
is caused by a reflex called motor memory, and disappears within minutes
on the Delta II keypad, but is more pronounced and will persist on the alphabetical
keypads. Stalling causes all alphabetically ordered keypads, like the two on the
right above, to be slow and uncomfortable to type on.
If possible, take this speed test again
tomorrow. Note how quickly you master the Delta II layout, whereas
your typing speeds on the alphabetic keypads start out slow and stay slow.
The sentence "the quick brown fox
jumps over the lazy dog" was selected because it uses every letter in the
alphabet at least once. You can use any 43 character long sentence (or sentence
fragment) such as "i just want to type faster on my cell phone", which
might be easier to remember. Whichever 43 character long sentence you choose, use
the same sentence on all three keypads.
Your results are displayed in elapsed seconds, calculated
words per minute (WPM), and a bar chart color coded by the following typing speed ranges:
Typing Speed Ranges
Over 20 WPM
10 to 20 WPM
0 to 10 WPM
WPM = words per minute
* Target acquisition and activation
times - why Delta II works:
Your typing speed depends on the following two
Target acquisition time -
the time it takes you to locate (acquire) the next key you want to press (assuming you are
not a touch typist on that keypad).
Target activation time -
the time it takes you to move your finger (thumb, stylus, etc.) to that next key and press
These two times added together is the time it takes to perform a "keystroke",
which ultimately determines your typing speed in words per minute (WPM). During
high-speed typing, these two time intervals may partially overlap.
If you are not a touch-typist on a particular
keypad, your average target acquisition speed mostly determines your
typing speed because you spend the majority of each keystroke cycle locating (acquiring)
the next button to press. Because letters on the Delta II keypad
are in proximity to where they exist on your PC keyboard, Delta II target
acquisition speeds average twice as fast as alphabetic
layouts, regardless of whether the alphabetic layout is linear, circular, or a matrix.
Also, the average distance between any two
keys is shorter on the Delta II layout compared to a QWERTY layout that
uses the same sized buttons and button spacing. The result is faster target activation
times for the Delta II layout than the QWERTY layout. This aspect
of user interfaces is documented under the subject of: "Fitt's Law".