Ambidextrous Ergonomic Mouse
My role:
Researcher
With the new state of work and the new normal, more and more people are having to sit at their computers, and set up comfortable work stations, which often includes an external ergonomic mouse.
However, at a glance, it appears that many ergonomic mice are only suited for one dominant hand, which is not an ideal scenario for some people, due to temporary, situational or permanent constraints.
I decided to look into this.
What was done
For the Ambidextrous Ergonomic Mouse project, I conducted end-to-end user research and crafted a product concept for a physical computer mouse designed to support both left- and right-handed use. I carried out surveys, artefact analysis, and user interviews to understand user behaviour and pain points.
Based on these insights, I developed user personas and storyboards, and synthesized findings to define the design challenge and opportunity. My role encompassed user research, analysis, and early concepting to explore a more inclusive ergonomic hardware solution.
Research Analysis
I conducted a survey to gather some preliminary insights and had 51 respondents, while I understand that 51 respondents is not an accurate representation of the entire population, here are my findings.
58.8% of participants indicated that they use an external mouse and the same percentage indicated usage of at least once a week. 82.4% of all participants were right handed and 11.8% ambidextrous. However, 60.8% of all participants stated that at some point in the past week, they needed to use their mouse but had their dominant hand occupied. 80.4% of participants stated they used a regular mouse and 7.8% stated they used an ergonomic mouse or a gaming mouse as it is commonly called. When asked what brand of mouse they own and use, the most common responses were HP, Logitech, and off-brand
These findings paved the way for user interviews which revealed a few key insights like; cost was a huge factor when considering a mouse, and most ergonomic mice tend to be expensive. Another recurring theme was the perception that a lot of these mice were not very stylish
Artefact Analysis
To provide a better picture of this challenge, I conducted an artefact analysis on 10 of the top rated ergonomic mice according techjury.net . The list had a mix of mice from various brands and every mouse had a different selling point. Of all 10, only 1 had the left hand as the preferred dominant hand, only 1 accounted for smooth ambidextrous use and only 1 could be modified to accommodate changing dominant hands
Personas
After analysing all of this information, I was able to come up with two user segments which I converted into personas based on their needs and pain-points.
Storyboards
In order to visualise a typical scenario faced by these personas, I designed storyboards to give a representation of their needs.
The Big Question
How might we design an efficient way for people to interact with their computers regardless of their dominant hand or abilities?
Why was it done
With the shift to remote work and increased screen time, more people rely on external computer mice for productivity. However, most ergonomic mice are tailored for a dominant hand - leaving a gap for users who need situational, temporary, or permanent ambidextrous comfort.
Research showed that a significant number of people struggle with ergonomics when their dominant hand is occupied or when sharing devices. This project was initiated to explore how a truly ambidextrous ergonomic mouse could address both comfort and inclusivity for a broad range of users, particularly where current products fall short.
How was it done
I began with quantitative research by distributing a survey to gather baseline insights into existing mouse usage and ergonomic frustrations. After analyzing the survey responses, I conducted qualitative interviews and artefact analysis of popular ergonomic mice to understand design trade-offs and unmet user needs. These research artifacts led to the creation of user personas and storyboards that captured real user scenarios and framed the design problem clearly.
Throughout, I mapped out user attitudes, motivations, and pain points to help inform concept directions and to communicate findings to collaborators or stakeholders. While the project remains exploratory and paused due to resourcing constraints, this early research laid the groundwork for future prototyping and evaluation of physical design attributes such as weight, hand posture, and control placement.
Conclusion
Although this project was quite interesting to work on, it is far from done yet. It is currently on hold because I cannot afford to continue with research at the moment. To proffer a solution, I would like to understand and experiment with the other physical attributes of the mice like weight, effective speed, and material analysis to properly if ergonomic mice are as beneficial as they appear to be and the possibility of creating an affordable ambidextrous mouse.
During the course of this project, I learned quite a bit and I hope to continue this project someday.