Comment by ilc

Disclaimer: Volunteer Svalboard Firmware Dev.

For most people the south keys and center are easier to press and more importantly hold. I don't care much about directions anymore, except for holding down keys.

Layout is a personal thing, we use Vial, so different people have different layouts, mine has a ton of mnemonics in it. It's really up to the user what they want, I'd be surprised if there are 2 Svalboards with the same layout. (Maybe stock when they are starting out, but people develop their own opinions pretty quickly.)