When we started developing keyboards, we realized that both thumbs handle one huge key, the space bar; meanwhile, the pinkies have to handle plenty of keys.
That did not seem fair, so we started developing our keyboards with multiple thumbkeys, giving your most dexterous fingers more to do while liberating the pinky.
Combined with the options offered by the configuration software, the thumb keys decrease stressful and unnecessary finger and hand movements.
It took a lot of work to make the keys easy to access and almost impossible to press by mistake. We had to make keycaps with different heights and profiles to match the position of the fingers, but those changes also affected the position of the electronics.
With the Defy, we brought things one step further. The goal was to provide users with keys they could easily access regardless of hand size and flexibility.
The thumb cluster is a valuable tool for rearranging hard-to-reach keys, including shift, enter, backspace, and modifiers, reducing reliance on the pinky finger.