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I am a heavy keyboard shortcut user.

Given that I have a web application, which may require heavy browsing (let's say.. craigslist rentals section), would it be better to have keyboard shortcuts for the end user?

I feel that given common repetitive tasks, it's better to implement keyboard shortcuts to allow the power users to gain efficiency.

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I feel that given common repetitive tasks, it's better to implement keyboard shortcuts to allow the power users to gain efficiency.

Honestly, you might've just answered your own question.

Some people use exclusively the keyboard, some people use it a lot, some people don't use it at all.

Take into account the following

  • Notify the user of availability of said key-binds
  • Use common key-bind patterns (don't use ctrl+c to create a new item, etc)
  • Try to make everything that has a shortcut also accessible through other means (so that there's as little "keyboard-only" functionality as possible)

Additionally

  • Try to take into account a lot of power users use a combination of mouse and keyboard so you'd want everything easily accessible under that one hand
  • where possible, consider left and right-handed shortcuts, or a switch between them
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  • Shouldn't that be ctrl+n for creating a new item? Not ctrl+c.
    – Paul van den Dool
    Commented Jul 16, 2014 at 7:25
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    That's what I'm saying. DON'T use ctrl+c to make a new item.
    – Dirk v B
    Commented Jul 16, 2014 at 11:23
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    DOH. Read before you write is the lesson we can learn here.
    – Paul van den Dool
    Commented Jul 16, 2014 at 11:24
  • Thanks, I was also thinking about filtering out power users, i.e. if they clicked an action many times, display a tooltip showing the shortcut key.
    – tpae
    Commented Jul 16, 2014 at 18:22
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    You don't want to wait for that. Power users come in different types, and while some will be power users because they use your software very often, others will be in that mode by "default", and just love shortcuts. So show them straightaway. Perhaps you can remove or reduce the size of certain ui elements if people use the shortcut often enough though!
    – Dirk v B
    Commented Jul 16, 2014 at 22:20

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