The tyranny of inconsistent keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are my productivity fuel. Navigating inconsistent keyboard shortcut landscapes across different programs feels like an obstacle course. A significant number of interactions remain universal across software. Why then, must we relearn basic actions like 'insert link' with every new tool?
This is specifically about my experience using: Linear, Notion, Slack, 1Password, Intercom, Google Docs, Obsidian and VS Code in parallel. It applies to standalone applications on my macOS system, but also to software in the browser.
I am German, and certain characters like [ and ] are hard to reach on a German keyboard. So I have an English keyboard now and need to do a limbo to type an Ü. I can only imagine how hard it is for Dvorak users.
Modern WYSIWYG editors have 'Markdown support', yet I often find myself struggling to escape a code block or changing a headline class. ⌘ + N, ⌘ + C, ⌘ + V are set in stone. But even what the ESC key does varies a lot. I hit ⌘ + S every 5 minutes in any document, it's part of my muscle memory. Now Linear will strike out my text for that. Without warning 1Password recently introduced a global (!) shortcut to open the mini window. Now when I try to indent code in VS Code, 1Password pops up (Reddit).
VS Code and other IDEs offer 'keymaps': sets of keyboard shortcuts that are compatible with other programs. Sublime user switching to VS Code? No problem, continue using your shortcuts. That's a good start.
