At Netapp in Sunnyvale everyone has 6ft by 8ft cubicles, with full sized walls (66” high). Some people have combined cubicles which are 6ft by 12ft.
Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
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Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#22Yes I too would love to see this. Noise canceling headphone seem to cancel everything but voices and that is the opposite of what you need.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Noise cancelling headphones will cancel low frequency sounds like fans / AC, but not high frequency ones like talking and phones.
Have you tried one? Mine significantly dampens and distorts speech so that it becomes easy to ignore. It's a recent Sony top-model, which from reviews seems to be on the top together with Bose regarding NC technology at the moment.
I've found the opposite to be true. Got a pair of QC-35II that block everything but speech, which subjectively appears to become even louder, even when you listen to music.
They're great for airplanes, trains, and low-frequency background noise, but for a crowded office where people are having chats and telcos, I'd rather use Shure in-ear monitors.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#24Never understood the rationale behind open floor offices. I currently work in a cubicle set up, and people set up war rooms anytime they want close collaboration. Open offices seem to take this exceptional case and make it the norm.
At the same time open floor offices cause a lot of trouble to people in non-exception situations.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's more about the noise level. Open plan office means that there's constant noise from talking and phones. Some can ignore that noise but for others, noise cancelling headphones are the only solution. Easier communication is certainly a benefit but I'm not sure if it outweighs the loss in productivity, especially for people that don't constantly have to talk to others to do their job.
Noise cancelling headphones will cancel low frequency sounds like fans / AC, but not high frequency ones like talking and phones.
My Bose Quiet Comfort 20 in-ears are excellent for machine noises like air conditioners in server rooms or traffic drone but terrible for voices or radio.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#26I work for Viasat; all of our new-build offices in the past few years have been designed around what we call the neighborhood concept. A neighborhood is a set of individual offices (maybe 60sqft-ish?) with three solid walls, and one glass/wood wall with a sliding door. All the offices open into a central room that can be outfitted in a bunch of different ways. There are neighborhoods of different sizes, and basically…
That's the office concept I've always wanted to build. It would be cool if someone from the company could document it/blog post/etc. -- might be good for recruiting too. (Especially since Viasat does pretty cool stuff -- excited about the new Exede sat expanding coverage...)
I was thinking it would make sense to have roller doors or some other way to open the entire side of the office (on both sides -- "neighborhood" and "hallway" if the occupant wanted.)
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#27Never understood the rationale behind open floor offices. I currently work in a cubicle set up, and people set up war rooms anytime they want close collaboration. Open offices seem to take this exceptional case and make it the norm. At the same time open floor offices cause a lot of trouble to people in non-exception situations.
Follow the money. It’s cheaper to build, easy to shuffle, and people will put up with it. I know I do.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#28Lots of (in fact most?) companies don't have an open plan office. When I used to work at Activision, they didn't and still don't. > How is this acceptable? Because it's totally fine. If you can't work with another human nearby you might want to get over yourself and think about what you're doing with your life.
I think it's more about the noise level. Open plan office means that there's constant noise from talking and phones. Some can ignore that noise but for others, noise cancelling headphones are the only solution. Easier communication is certainly a benefit but I'm not sure if it outweighs the loss in productivity, especially for people that don't constantly have to talk to others to do their job.
It's not just noise -- people moving in your visual field is very distracting.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#29Cisco Norway (where I work) doesn't have open floor plans. Cisco San Jose (the HQ) is a different story though. Also, I doubt that Basecamp (formerly named 37signals) has open floor plans.
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Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#30Several teams in Apple don't have an open floor plan. They pair two individuals in an office.
I have one word for this, and I'm totally sincere and serious about it no matter how facetious it sounds:
Farts.