Hey community,
It’s time for something different! Today I present to you: The world of mats. For your desk. And your mouse.
Desk mats and mouse pads
Back in June and July, we surveyed the community about accessories that would go well with Spectrum, or with your desk in general. Behind the scenes, our accessory focus has been on cables primarily, as those would be the most important towards getting Spectrum to work. But we’ve also been looking for something to put our sourcing team to the test and do a trial run of our logistics system.
So why mouse pads and desk mats? They are relatively quick to develop, low-cost, easy to store, and we can offer variations without putting in a lot of extra research and development.
Like most of our accessory projects, we won’t go nearly as in-depth with crowd development as we would with a large project like Spectrum or the V. Even so, there are some quick questions we want to run by you, our community, to help guide us along the way!
Shape and size
The main difference between a mouse pad and desk mat is the size. When we say ‘mouse pad,’ we mean any mat meant to house the mouse and not much more. When you start adding room for keyboards, a place to rest your arms, or cover the entire desk, that’s ‘desk mat’ territory.
A mouse pad will house your mouse and not much else. How much room does your mouse need to stretch its tail?
My ideal mouse pad is about this tall:
- 200mm / 7.9"
- 250mm / 9.8"
- 300mm / 11.8"
- 350mm / 13.8"
- 400mm / 15.7"
- 450mm / 17.7"
- 500mm / 19.7"
0 voters
My ideal mouse pad is about this wide:
- 200mm / 7.9"
- 250mm / 9.8"
- 300mm / 11.8"
- 350mm / 13.8"
- 400mm / 15.7"
- 450mm / 17.7"
- 500mm / 19.7"
0 voters
A desk mat will house more than just your mouse and could even cover your entire desk. How big does it have to be to support your desk?
My ideal desk mat is about this tall:
- 300mm / 11.8"
- 350mm / 13.8"
- 400mm / 15.7"
- 450mm / 17.7"
- 500mm / 19.7"
- 550mm / 21.7"
- 600mm / 23.6"
- 650mm / 25.6"
- 700mm / 27.6"
- 800mm / 31.5"
- 900mm / 35.4"
- 1000mm / 39.4"
0 voters
My ideal desk mat is about this wide:
- 700mm / 27.6"
- 750mm / 29.5"
- 800mm / 31.5"
- 850mm / 33.5"
- 900mm / 35.4"
- 950mm / 37.4"
- 1000mm / 39.4"
- 1100mm / 43.3"
- 1200mm / 47.2"
- 1300mm / 51.2"
- 1400mm / 55.1"
- 1500mm / 59.1"
0 voters
Material
Mouse pads are made of a variety of different materials, ranging from textured plastic to foam to delicate fabrics. What we are looking to create here are mouse pads with a fabric surface on a non-slip rubber base. These can easily be rolled for shipping or storage, and provide a wide range of tracking surface options.
A good mouse pad offers you a smooth surface that your mouse can freely move on, and a texture that lets the optical or laser sensor in your mouse track to the best of its capability. Depending on the user, the emphasis may be more toward speed and unrestrained motion, or toward control and precise tracking, and more demanding users may desire the best of both worlds.
Secondary features may include enhanced durability, ease of cleaning, or even water-repelling or antimicrobial treatments.
A final consideration for the material is how it can be decorated. We’ll cover design a bit further down, but for now, it’s important to consider that the fabric used to top the mouse pad may limit the available printing options.
My ideal mouse pad focuses on these qualities:
- beautiful design
- high speed, low friction
- high control, precise tracking
- comfortable to the touch
- durable, long-lasting
- easy to clean
0 voters
A desk mat, that’s just a large mouse pad, right? In most cases, yes. But there are some differences in the use case that may change your priorities. For example, if your entire desktop is covered in the material, you may end up resting your arms on it, and the comfort of the fabric against your wrists and forearms may play a more important role. And placing a keyboard, monitor, or other objects on it may increase the desire for durability.
My ideal desk mat focuses on these qualities:
- beautiful design
- high speed, low friction
- high control, precise tracking
- comfortable to the touch
- durable, long-lasting
- easy to clean
0 voters
Design
There are a number of ways to decorate a mouse pad, ranging from elaborate, full-sized images to subtle patterns or singular logos. Please note that these images only serve to illustrate the various design categories. Based on the kind of style you guys prefer, our design team can get to work for real!
A full-size print stretches across the entire surface of the mouse pad or desk mat.
A pattern print also covers the entire surface of the mouse pad or desk mat but consists of smaller elements that repeat to form a pattern.
A logo print leaves most of the mouse pad or desk mat blank but adds a small graphical element, usually a logo. (Because it does not require all the fabric to be printed, this offers the most flexibility in material choice.)
My ideal mouse pad has a:
- full-size print
- pattern print
- logo print
0 voters
As we have found going over the previous survey categories, preferences may differ depending on the size. So of course we’ll also ask…
My ideal desk mat has a:
- full-size print
- pattern print
- logo print
0 voters
Thank you
There’s a good chance that this will be the final community survey for the year, so I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in crowd development with us in 2020. You are all awesome, and Eve couldn’t do what it does without each and every one of you!
Of course, if you have any comments about mouse pads and desk mats, leave a reply!
