Survey Results are In! What Our Readers Want In A Keyboard for the Workplace

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Workspace Mechanical Keyboard Market Research Survey Results (390 Responses)

Quick overview

Here are the results from the Workspace Mechanical Keyboard Survey. We got 390 responses. I’ve left it open for quite a long time but I think we have a solid amount of data to work with and move forward with planning out what the ultimate keyboard for work could look and feel like.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated!

This is a simple summary of what people picked for each question, plus a few notes where it helps.

At a glance

• Productivity importance: average 70/100, median 80/100
• Color preference: basically split 50/50 (between monochrome and bright colours)
• Sound preference: “Creamy” was the most popular
• Backlighting: majority prefer backlit
• Upgrade likelihood: about 3 in 4 think their workplaces would be open to upgrading to mech keyboards (Yes or Maybe)

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1) How important are mechanical keyboards to your productivity?

People generally rated this pretty high. You can see it in the median and the upper quartile.

Metric	Value (out of 100)
Average	70.23
Median	80
25th percentile	50
75th percentile	100

Personally, this lines up with what you see in most keyboard communities. Some people treat keyboards like a core tool, and some people just want something that works.

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2) Color preference (fun/bright vs professional/monochrome)

This was almost a perfect split. So there is no single “correct” direction here.

Option	Votes	Share
Monochrome	199	51.0%
Fun/Bright	191	49.0%

In terms of keycaps, this could point to a neutral base with optional accent keys. With keycaps generally being able to be the most customizable part of the board, it’s not as major of an issue for keycaps, but it is nigh impossible to change the colour of the casing.

With the casing, I’d interpret the data to mean we’d need to think about some alternate colourways for those who want more of a fun vibe, which could be colour matched to a keycap set or work colour scheme, or something flexible that works with a variety of casing colours.

I can imagine how some workspaces would need something sleek and low key as opposed to others where it can be a novel yet functional item that brightens your day.

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3) Preferred sound (Creamy / Thoccy / Clacky)

“Creamy” was the top pick by a decent margin. That makes sense in a shared workspace. It tends to sound controlled and less sharp.

Sound	Votes	Share
Creamy	187	47.9%
Thoccy	124	31.8%
Clacky	79	20.3%

One practical note here. People often discover that “sound preference” changes once stabilizers are tuned and the case has some dampening. So these results are a good directional signal, even if everyone’s setup is different.

I actually forgot to add ‘silent’ to the survey in this question which may have been a minor oversight!

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4) Backlighting (Backlit vs Non-Backlit)

Most respondents prefer having backlighting. I admit that I didn’t expect this, but I do enjoy tasteful backlighting myself.

Option	Votes	Share
Backlit	239	61.3%
Non-Backlit	151	38.7%

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5) Would your workplace consider upgrading to mechanical keyboards?

A lot of people think their work places are open to the idea. “Yes” and “Maybe” together are about three quarters of responses.

Answer	Votes	Share
Yes	183	46.9%
Maybe	112	28.7%
No	95	24.4%

For me, this is exactly what I want to see when working on a “work keyboard” product. People do not need to be fully convinced yet. Being open to it is the big hurdle. Note that as this is a mechanical keyboard blog, the opinions of our valued readers may not necessarily represent their workplace’s opinion, but I trust you guys!

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6) Ideal workplace keyboard features (multi-select)

This question was multi-select, so counts here mean “how many respondents included the feature,” not “how many picked it as their only choice.”

Feature	Mentions	% of respondents
Customizable	256	65.6%
Wireless Connectivity	207	53.1%
Wired Connectivity	163	41.8%
Aluminum Case	157	40.3%
Volume Switch	119	30.5%
Volume Slider	115	29.5%
Gasket Mounted	106	27.2%
Plastic Case	72	18.5%
Case Mounted	47	12.1%

If you squint at this list and think about a real product, the “shape” is pretty clear.

• People want customization (ability to change keycaps and switches, so no hard soldering of switches).
• They want wireless, but also a solid wired mode. This makes sense depending on whether you want speed and max performance or versatility when on the move with bluetooth devices like IPads.
• A premium feel matters, hence the aluminum case. I expected this would be the most popular choice, you can’t go wrong with this.
• Volume control is a big “quality of life” feature. It was virtually identical in terms of votes for switch and slider. I’m not sure how to differentiate between which one would go on the board, but I’m pretty biased toward a nicely weighted slider (though I must remain objective).
• Gasket mount shows up often, which usually points to a softer feel and more controlled sound.

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7) “Single most important thing” (open text)

This one was open text, so answers vary a lot. People wrote everything from a single word to full explanations.

When you group answers into rough themes, the most common topics people mentioned were:

• Switch feel / typing feel: mentioned in about 64 responses
• Quiet / low noise: mentioned in about 59 responses
• Layout (numpad / size): mentioned in about 21 responses

That lines up with the earlier questions pretty well. People care about feel. They care about sound. They care about the layout fitting their job. Luckily our readers are dialled in (given that I forgot to ask about silent switches) and speak to the importance of quiet/low noise. This is something I need to keep in mind, and look somewhere toward the quieter end of creamy switches or even silent ones.

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Wrap-up

Overall, the survey points toward a “work keyboard” that is practical first (wireless, customizable, volume control), and then tuned for office-friendly sound and feel (creamy sound preferences, gasket mount interest).

Hopefully this overview was as interesting to you, as it has been to me! It’s been a long time in the making but I have you guys to thank for pitching in!