My opinion: open floor plan is acceptable up to a certain room size (100/150m2), provided that the people inside do the same job (mixing devs and salesman is a sin), that the room is not too crammed (6-10m2 per person being the sweet spot) and that there're other meeting/recreational areas.
Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
81–90 of 356 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Active noise cancellation generally works best for consistent background noise. Sound that changes rapidly, like human voices, will be difficult for the cancellation hardware to react to, and headphones that provide sound isolation may be more help. See https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-noise-cancelling-headphone-....
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Easier communication also lead in my anecdotal experoence to people brain borrowing all day from the resident domain expert. This is great for overall productivity but constant sidetracking burns developer will fast. When combined with performance metrics based on delivery alone it becomes a recipe for total disaster.
Yeah, you really have to develop a personality that's able to deal with the interruptions. From both sides: you need to change, and you need to change others. Besides that part, there's plenty of roles where you can negotiate time to work from elsewhere on the odd occasion. At that point it becomes a time management excercise that's mostly not too difficult to solve. Oh, and take these types of situations into accoun…
I can develop such personality. I happened to get angry when interrupted. But my productivity is still enormously better when I can concentrate.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#84They're all going this way. I've had to started adding 'well, I can' t do the work here' in front of every 'when can you have this done' response.
It has gotten to the point where I'm seriously considering just working from home every day, even though that's strictly not allowed. Open-plan offices are absolutely maddening, I get pulled out of my thoughts constantly, and there's no effective way to shut it out. Earplugs aren't enough, and with headphones I would have to play music so loudly it would be annoying my colleagues, just in order to cut out the constan…
Use noise cancelling headphones. They shut out the world with a bit of quiet music. I love my qc35. Doesn't fix the primary issue, but makes it more bearable.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#85I 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…
> maybe 60sqft-ish? For those of us with non-ridiculous units, that's 5-6 m².
That's rather small, even for a single-person office.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#86Have there been any studies on what kind of office floor plans are actually optimal for work?
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#87I 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…
oh my, it sounds pretty close to what's described in peopleware.
give people both options of isolated, private space, and shared space, and let them move between them as they wish.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#88I work in a very open office plan where meeting rooms have no walls and even directors sit amongst the staff. It's noisy and distracting, I can never concentrate
"even directors sit amongst the staff"
At least they are eating their own dogfood. I have had several occasions where I was belittled when I complained about noise and lack of daylight by our managers who have private offices with windows.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#89Have there been any studies on what kind of office floor plans are actually optimal for work?
> Have there been any studies on what kind of office floor plans are actually optimal for work?
It's hard - every study of individuals shows they are significantly less productive in an open office environment.
But what second order effects are there?
You might be less productive individually but it might encourage team work and make the team as a whole more effective.
Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?
#90Earlier 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.
It's not just noise -- people moving in your visual field is very distracting.
end thread. here is visual noise:
"oh there's bob, does bob want to say hi or is he busy? he looks stressed probably dont want to interrupt him, should i say hi? nah well he's talking to fred now so i'll go back to fixing this unit test i guess...now where was i? oh look there's gary, i probably should say hi, (he's also a manager), does he want to talk about issue X if i interrupt him", nah it will probably piss him off without a meeting and a heads up, plus i'll look like a noob,
ok back to the code again..."
x 200 times per day.
everyday.