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Given their cost economics, open layouts are probably not going anywhere in a world of rising office rents. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneo

Given their cost economics, open layouts are probably not going anywhere in a world of rising office rents. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneous conversation encourages creativity. The real problem is signaling what state you're in. Everyone looks the same on a computer, so it's hard to tell who's in the zone and who's available. What if we took a huge glass conference room and dedicated it as a 'quiet do not disturb room'? No talking at all, and the only movement is entering/exiting. When people see you in there, it's a giant visible signal that you're probably not responding to Slack/email/etc because you're doing something and don't want to be disturbed.

chaostheory 11y ago
> Given their cost economics, open layouts are probably not going anywhere in a world of rising office rents. What does this have to do with rents? Cubicles can easily replace an open area and they count as tax deductions. Also this is like saying that it makes sense to give your developers cheaper, but lower performance PCs. While the lower upfront costs are obvious, your company will pay dearly in lost man hours... which makes no sense since silicon (or almost any other material) is still less expensive than carbon when it comes to the cost of time. > That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneous conversation encourages creativity. The real problem is signaling what state you're in. Even when you signal your state e.g. headphones People in open offices still ignore it. Think about it. Would you not look at, smile, or wave to someone you know, who you just happen to be walking by? Is the supposed increase in creativity worth the major decrease in productivity when you have lunch and happy hour as options? I could be wrong but Github was born in an happy hour > What if we took a huge glass conference room and dedicated it as a 'quiet do not disturb room'? Yup. This kind of fixes it. Based on my experience with the 'fish bowl', a mini partition like what you see in libraries and schools would further help reduce distractions inside a conference room while still lowering the bar for obstacles to interaction.
shanemhansen 11y ago
> That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneous conversation encourages creativity. Sorry, but this just isn't true. Open office layouts are a bad thing. There are studies showing that they make people sick, unhappy, and less productive. People sometimes feel more creative and engaged, but on average they're not. See http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119992592.ch6/summary http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119992592.ch6... and http://www.newyorker.com/currency-tag/the-open-office-trap http://www.newyorker.com/currency-tag/the-open-office-trap for more background.

chaostheory 11y ago

> Given their cost economics, open layouts are probably not going anywhere in a world of rising office rents. What does this have to do with rents? Cubicles can easily replace an open area and they count as tax deductions. Also this is like saying that it makes sense to give your developers cheaper, but lower performance PCs. While the lower upfront costs are obvious, your company will pay dearly in lost man hours... which makes no sense since silicon (or almost any other material) is still less expensive than carbon when it comes to the cost of time. > That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneous conversation encourages creativity. The real problem is signaling what state you're in. Even when you signal your state e.g. headphones People in open offices still ignore it. Think about it. Would you not look at, smile, or wave to someone you know, who you just happen to be walking by? Is the supposed increase in creativity worth the major decrease in productivity when you have lunch and happy hour as options? I could be wrong but Github was born in an happy hour > What if we took a huge glass conference room and dedicated it as a 'quiet do not disturb room'? Yup. This kind of fixes it. Based on my experience with the 'fish bowl', a mini partition like what you see in libraries and schools would further help reduce distractions inside a conference room while still lowering the bar for obstacles to interaction.

shanemhansen 11y ago

> That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneous conversation encourages creativity. Sorry, but this just isn't true. Open office layouts are a bad thing. There are studies showing that they make people sick, unhappy, and less productive. People sometimes feel more creative and engaged, but on average they're not. See http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119992592.ch6/summary http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119992592.ch6... and http://www.newyorker.com/currency-tag/the-open-office-trap http://www.newyorker.com/currency-tag/the-open-office-trap for more background.