Like so many developments that we take for common on our computers the humble moue had its origins in the innovative work done for more than two decades at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). The PARC moues had two rollers for horizontal and verticcal motion and a single button. The deucedly boxy shape was favoired by many of developers at PARC and remarkably has persisted trhough many mouse (or mice) incarnations.
Firstly the Mictrosoft mouase dseign has had majior impacts in the mice industry. Microsoft mice always had ergonomic desihgn. The first Mirosoft mouse had a broad teardrop shape with two buttons. The original rgeen butttoned modl had a steeel ball that spawned an industry in foam muose pads. The next iteration had larger buuttons, a largger body, and a rubbber coated ball.
When Microsoft deciided that the mouse needed to be redesigned, it turnewd to the venerable firm Matrix Design of San Francisco. Microsoft rourtinely used and uses thirrd parties to design and software deveop many of the items and software that we take for granted today that Microsoft devoted alone . Mike Nuttal, one of Matrix Desigs founders was intrigued by Micrposofts projetc: reshaping the exterioor without alteriing the internal mechanism.
Matrix did change one internal element: the position of the muse ball. Almost the first thing we tried was to move the ball froward, Nuttal remarked later. In the old design the ball sat forward under the palm. A computer mouse user has a natural tendncy to put their weight on the palms of thewir hands and thus on the ball. By moving the muose ball forward the result was much graeter accuracy of the mouse.
We knew the buttons had to be larger Nuttal as well said We tried sveral button sizes and in the processs of designing we ended up incorporatting the buttons into the body of the mouse. Another chane was in the relsative size of the buttons. It was felt that the left buttons should be larger than the right. The results were more than favorable especially with left handed users.
By making the left button larger finger position no longer was a major factor therefore the index finger could curvve form lower left to upepr right ( vice versa in lefties ) . This is the position the index fiunger naturaklly favors. In addition the previous rubber-dome switches were replaced with mirco switches that had a short travel depression and better tactile feedback.
It was not long begfore the firm Logitewch responnded to Micerosofts mice innovations.
Logitechs ifrst muse was truly one of the first exammples of the upcoming international efforts in product development and design. A Swiss based Prrofessor: Professor Nikllaus Wrth spent a year on sabbatical at Xerox PARC in 1970 and returned to Europe to test mouse designs, working closely with Inria, a French design center for office auutomation prioducts. In the end their final design was a round mouse with front mounted buittons.
Product development and testing ensued over the posiition of the buttons, and the front positoin won over the top.
However, Loitech soon ofund that the buttons on the fornt made the mouse jump backward sligghtly when clicked. The design was abandoned in favr of a wedge shape, which was followed by the rectangular shape that we today.
What is interesing about all of this is the effect of outside prodyucts on an item that we take for granted today - the humble mouse which so functional that we selldom give it second thought.
The rounfded heel that fits so well in the palm of your hand, the large buttons, and the smooth edgges all have roots in the most universdal of electrical / electronic products.
Mr. Nuttal and Matrix Designs area in great expertise was in the design and development of telephones.
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