Post 2: To the drawing board
Mid-August 2020 | By: Thuan D.
During this time period, my notepad is filled with sketches of various shapes, form factors, and sizes that the macropad could take. We eventually settled on a few basics constraints that would guide the design:
Mechanical key switches - gotta have that tactile response
Rotary knob - for volume control
4 buttons - least number of buttons to be useful
Fully enclosed case
Understated design that would fit in on both our desk setups as well as professional enough to look good on my desk at work
USB cable must come from the center(ish) of the top of the unit so I could have it sit on my desk horizontally and have more flexibility on placement
There was a lot of “nice to haves…” that were discussed, but at the end of the day, we tried to hold ourselves to a minimum-viable-product (MVP) on the first revision. As a thought experiment, we tried to think about ways to make the result more than just a single DIY project; decisions were made throughout to help keep unit costs low, assembly process repeatable, etc.
From here, it would be about trying to get the correct spacing of the keys and sizing of the enclosure. We started off with some size estimates and mocked it up using cardboard and representative components. This helped us arrive at the key spacing and sizing that you see in the final product. We felt that the USB position and sizing of the macropad were both crucial in the usability and aesthetics, and when faced with trying to fit the internal components, we had to go through a couple iterations of creative integration to squeeze every millimeter out of that enclosure.
David went about choosing the electrical components and sizing the PCB.
A CAD rendering of one of the revisions that we wanted to have made.
