Solving the mouse tremor problem: using a touchpad as a mouse?

Question

I am posting this question here because I wanted to post it on the Super User stack exchange, but has some overlap with user experience. If more appropriate there, please migrate my post.

When PC users use a mouse, for instance in an office where a lot of clicking is required (for instance, a parcel delivery office or a medical services office or a city public services office), the ligament by the knuckles might get a lot of usage, and get worn out. It may eventually even hurt, and you may get a mouse tremor from mouse usage.

Programmers, sometimes, resolve this problem by delegating mouse usage to the keyboard. Office users as describe, may, have this option (keyboard shortcuts and hot keys), but, they may have to deal, in some, cases, with software that does not offer this option.

So, I was wondering, would it be helpful to have a digital tablet mouse like those provided on laptops as separate hardware pieces that can be placed in place of the mouse (and would this help, or would it make things just worse)?

For instance, do such hardware devices exist?

Is there software that allows you to program such devices, such as, digital tablets, as mice (for instance, one may already have a digital tablet they were not using and may want to use it as a mouse, but where would they find the software to make it possible)?

Finally, as a user experience person, if you think these solutions are not really viable for mouse tremor, how would you design a better mouse to use as a substitute to deal with a developing mouse tremor problem?

So, this post is also about ergonomics.

Thanks.

Answer 1

There are many potential solutions to the problem, and your question provides a number of possible solutions that don't require hardware modification (which can be an expensive thing to roll out in an organisation).

Firstly, you can redesign the interface so that the way data entry is performed can be more efficient. But this actually requires a lot of upfront effort in terms of analysing the business process and optimising the design of the interface, which takes a lot of time. However, the long term pay-off is probably better compared to hardware changes.

Secondly, the change in hardware can reduce the impact of high periods of intensive and repetitive movements, but it isn't as effective as eliminating or reducing the amount of those movements. Also, you may be shifting the impact from one type of movement to another.

Thirdly, often you see in professions that require a lot of repetitive movement (such as musicians) develop strategies to cope with this, and I think the main takeaway is to build up strength and reduce the intensity and length of time where the muscles are under greater strain than you can comfortably manage. An example of this is software used to monitor mouse usage and also timed breaks when you are typing or clicking for long periods of time.

There are different types of mouse that are meant to be ergonomic in reducing the amount of movements to the wrist itself. Some will translate this to other parts like the thumb with the scroll ball that is exposed, and some provide programmable keys to reduce the movement required for certain click combinations.

So while there is no perfect solution to the mouse tremor problem, and a touchpad can provide some benefit, it is still better to focus on the specific root cause of the problem and address that for the user.