A very different approach allows the user to create the desired character on the basis of its visual appearance rather than the underlying phonics.

Changjie input uses just such an approach. The keyboard provides access to primitive ideographic components which, when combined in the right sequence lead to the desired ideograph.

An advantage of an approach such as changjie is that you don’t have to speak Mandarin. A drawback is the additional training required.

Note that pen-based input is another useful approach. (In fact, this is particularly helpful for people who do not speak Chinese or Japanese. Once you master a few simple rules about stroke order and direction, you can use something like Microsoft’s IME Pad to draw and select characters without any knowledge of components or pronunciation.)