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Keyboard is always faster than mouse when you know what you are doing.
Please try to respect the usual O/S meaning of key functions:
Tab - jump to the next control
Shift-Tab - jump back to the previous control
Ctrl-Tab - cycle to the next "inner" dialogue (e.g. go to the next tab in tabbed controls)
Shift-Ctrl-Tab (as above, backwards)
Both the above cycle back to the start or end when they reach the end or start.
Alt-Tab - Cycle to the next "outer" dialogue or window (e.g. to the next workspace, if 2 are open)
Shift-Alt-Tab (as above, backwards)
Space-bar is the universal way to toggle selected checkboxes or other on/off controls.
The above key combinations usually work that same way in most applications on both Mac and Windows.
In addition, it is customary* to include "shortcuts" - single-letter key combinations that can be used with ALT- to jump directly to (or immediately toggle or submit) a nominated control, AND for the required shortcut for that control to appear with an underline below the shortcut letter (if not always, then it should show up when the ALT key is pressed alone).
E.g.
The first is the normal dialog. The second is what shows up when the ALT key is pressed and held down: note how every heading has an underline on the next unused possible letter for the control).
In the above example, pressing ALT-S should immediately toggle the Sketch Grid, pressing ALT-L should activate the first of the Linetype control options (right-arrow to change them, space to toggle), and pressing ALT-F should "press that button" and immediately FINISH SKETCH
* Also be aware that all the above are absolutely essential for disabled people and anyone/anything else needing assistive technologies or who rely on those shortcuts to rapidly get their work done.
Everything I have described above is pure "intuition" - because that's how almost everything else already works, nobody needs to learn anything new to use all that, and, everything they do learn in here will automatically work in other applications they use as well - win/win !!
Hello all...
I basically FULLY agree with Chris.
Apart from keyboard shortcuts that are engaged with the ALT key (also highlighting those letters in dialogs etc.) I do like the hints in menus that you're already using:
Only... these are FAR TOO FEW !
Working quickly within your workspace is soooo important. Simply pressing one key (e.g. L for line or D for dimension) is extremely fast and convenient. - Please do add LOTS more, not only in dialogs, modals etc.
Cheers!
Thilo
Most comments here, and the survey itself, heavily focus on navigating the menus (TAB, Shift Tab or arrow keys). However, modal hotkeys seem to be unknown to most, as it is a relatively new way to model with.
Modal hotkeys
The idea here is that there exists a new context for keyboard shortcuts within an active command. In other words, you can press 'Q' to fillet and then press 'Q' to enable picking tool. You could then hit 'W' to change the width of the fillet, then hit 'T' to change go to the Fillet type setting, etc. After activating a modal hotkey, it activates the input field from the 3d view, so you can type 1000mm, hit 'D' and go to another field. Optionally, changing modes would confirm input so "w1000d500" would be all that's required for input.*
Example:
Alternative approach
Some Blender plugins use a HUD for the settings, but for Fusion there will be the menu on the right hand side. It does show a more elaborate way of hotkeying, the video below shows the way the options are navigated. Since you have direct access to the specifics you want to change it is quicker and requires less input (so less muscle strain) than hitting Tab a number of times in succession, only to accidentally overshoot in some cases.
Note that mousewheel and Ctrl inputs could be replaced with single letter + mouse movement or single letter + numeric value (both typed from the canvas) in addition to tabbing through the menu when the mouse hovers over it and picks the appropriate input). So no existing functionality lost, only added.
Minimal input, maximal ergonomics
Ideally, Fusion 360 would adopt this Modal Hotkey approach, it is different from any software I used (Rhino, Alias, Revit, Autocad, 3ds Max, Adobe CC suite, Affinity Suite) but I felt at home immediately. Thing is, this approach is the least heavy on user input. Minimal effort across keyboard AND mouse. You don't need to keep mouse buttons or keys pressed down at all. Plus, since it is a new context, it does not consume hotkeys/ you can use all hotkeys available again, therefore, any operation requires one key — nothing more, no modifiers, etc. — so it is blazingly fast and great for muscle memory and great to combat muscle strain over long working days.
Try it
So I can recommend the team that researches how to tackle navigation, to download Blender (free and open source) and bevel the default cube, you'll notice the difference and see how it works. It is difficult to convey this with words and videos, you will just have to try to feel the difference.
Also, in Blender, any of the keyboard shortcuts and modal hotkeys can be user configured, so if I think 'R' for Radius is more easy to remember than 'W' for Width, then I can go ahead and change this. Very convenient stuff.
Regarding alt key navigation
The modal hotkeys are basically Alt + [key] navigation, but then without the alt key. So much easier to reach with only one key required. So I think it should satisfy those who wish to use Alt + [key] navigation.
Moreover, in Blender, alt is used to cancel things out, so translating this to Fusion, you would be able to reset a setting to its default. By pressing Alt+'W', the fillet's radius would be reset to the default state (last used), alternatively, hovering over a value and pressing 'C' for Clear or Backspace, should work the same way. It would be like hitting the X symbol as well.
Tab/ arrow navigation
The modal hotkeys are not supposed to take away functionality, you should still be able to go to the next input with tab, since typing 3000 > tab > 200 > tab > 1300 for creating a box is something most people would be familiar with. Heck it already works this way.
The same goes for arrow key navigation, maybe to change to the next fillet type with the fillet type input active, but modal hotkeys will streamline all of this. The more options available the more likely people will feel at home, simple ones for the hobbyist and elaborate ones for the power user.
*Simplified version, since you can have multiple types of fillets in Fusion as opposed to Blender's dialog box. This is easily solved though.
For questions/ more information, feel free to ask/ send me a PM, always happy to help!
E: To clarify, some default Blender tools are not as optimal as some of the available plugins, but you can, through plugins/ customising hotkeys achieve a workflow wherein mouse button and keyboard key holds/ click and drag can be almost mitigated (except for selections perhaps). And wherein most of the shortcuts only use single button activation. If possible, I think the team should try to minimise button holding and click + drag behaviour, that would help a lot of people with their health > reducing input strain is key here.
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