Figma’s Writer Micro made me a macro pad particular person with its colourful, clicky keys

Quite a few my pals, pals who aren’t streamers, have picked up Elgato’s Move Decks. I will perceive the impulse to have shortcuts, automation triggers, and fiddly little knobs inside arm’s achieve, with out increasing the keyboard itself. However the Move Deck’s customizable icons, upright nature, and streaming-focused app give a boost to make it a non-starter for my bodily desktop. I’m a clicky keyboard particular person, even though I will see some intriguing non-QWERTY chances.

I hadn’t thought to be taking a look additional right into a secondary keyboard till I spotted that the makers of interface design device Figma had collaborated with Paintings Louder on a customized tiny keyboard, the Figma Writer Micro. It’s a model of Paintings Louder’s usual Writer Micro, finished up with a Figma-style colour scheme and arrange with 4 layers of shortcuts most dear within that app, for a complete of 48. It’s mechanical, it’s colourful, and it—or its extra standardized cousin—would possibly do a excellent bit towards making improvements to your workflow.

Figma despatched me a pattern of its Writer Micro to check it out. I don’t design interfaces, nor use Figma, however for all functions, you might want to imagine this to even be a take a look at run of the usual Writer Micro. The 2 are functionally equivalent, minus the appearance, and the pre-programming and customized shortcut keycaps integrated with the Figma model. Mine got here with the “Clicky” (Kailh White) keys, although “Silent” (Kailh Brown) is an possibility.

I reprogrammed 3 layers of my Micro with necessarily the similar 12 shortcuts, remapped with the web-based VIA device to imitate the similar purposes on Mac, Home windows, and Gnome-based Linux (I haven’t gotten round to Chrome OS but, however logically that’s subsequent). It is a want extra commonplace amongst generation writers than in all probability many different trades, but it surely’s my favourite factor in regards to the Micro. Once I transfer techniques, I’ve to each bodily transfer my full-size keyboard (a NuPhy Air 75) between “Mac” and “Win” and in addition mentally shift my keyboard shortcuts. Once I toggle between layers at the Micro (helpfully indicated with tiny LEDs), my shortcut scheme stays the similar.

That scheme is aimed toward my paintings, which is in large part typing, taking screenshots, manipulating home windows, and opting for which song is enjoying after I’m looking at a cursor and doubting myself. I’ve addressed the Micro’s buttons in horizontal rows, from the highest:

• Play, Subsequent (skip) media
• Resize home windows left, middle, full-size, and proper (the usage of local shortcuts or Rectangle)
• Complete-screen, lively window, house variety, and save-to-file screenshots
• Replica, paste

The highest and backside rows may just most probably get replaced, however I’m discovering it great to have backups for when my arms can’t relearn the Command/Regulate variations between techniques. The tall dial I’ve set to device quantity and the smaller metal wheel set to undo/redo movements. You’ll be able to clearly pass a lot additional into particular app shortcuts, as long as you’re prepared to be told VIA’s encoding device.

Having those shortcuts to be had has been useful, but additionally amusing. I’m now not above admitting that I’m the usage of the Micro to make my activity—typing right into a field about electrical energy—appear extra like operating some more or less difficult system. The tactile comments and sound from urgent one of the crucial Micro’s keys supplies the similar more or less ahead momentum feeling that mechanical typing fanatics pursue. Shifting home windows round with devoted keys, and opting for when to snatch a screenshot, feels extra intentional and lends a way of mastery.

OK, it’s amusing, I’m pronouncing. It’s amusing to have somewhat field for little pc duties, somewhat than successfully doing them all the way through one slab you will have to memorize below ache of being thought to be unoptimized. On occasion I simply twirl the quantity knob up and down, with not anything enjoying, as a result of it is amusing to twirl a knob.

That more or less amusing isn’t going to be value $130–$160 (at the present time) to the general public, perhaps now not even the ones already tuned into clicky keys. I feel the Micro (and its Figma variant) seems to be and feels nice, particularly the knob, wheel, translucent RGB-lit border, and the just-heavy-enough non-skid base. Take into accounts it while you subsequent in finding your arms drained from stretching to hit awkward combos or your mind fatigued from differentiating between too-similar letters.

As Marcin Wichary, Figma’s design director and creator of Shift Occurs, an incredible compendium of keyboard historical past, places it in Figma’s weblog submit about their Writer: “In some way, the QWERTY keyboard is dull as it has to be dull… it misplaced numerous its character to turn out to be flexible, and numerous its high quality to turn out to be ubiquitous.” The Writer Micro, and its Figma variant, are simply two extra gear to wield towards sensible, affordable monotony.

Record symbol through Figma