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The Solution for Open Office Frustration
51–60 of 67 posts
Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#52I've got an amazing idea. Go away from open plan offices. I'm really baffled that that wasn't one of the solutions in the article. Red and Green coloured cubes? Lights? Ugly attempts to mask the symptoms, rather than fix the real problem: Open plan offices suck for productivity.
What about small open offices? Like an office with 5-7 people in the team sharing the office?
That's sounds kind of coo.
Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#53Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#54Some workers take to building their own symbolic barriers for privacy At Google. somebody went as far as to build a little hut around his cube using cardboard boxes that he'd glued together. I wish I had a picture..
> build a little hut around his cube using cardboard boxes that he'd glued together. Like this => https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/bc/17/61/bc17615c9...
No, not nearly that nice.
Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#55I don't care about people coming up to talk to me. It usually means they have something they need help with or an answer to. What bothers me is the noise, and no noise cancellation set of headsets work because they block out white noise but not people talking . In fact, noise cancellation headphones tend to enhance voices, since there is no background noise to dull it. Lights don't solve this. Hats don't solve this.…
I care a lot about people talking to me. When it happens stochastically a dozen times in a day, that day is completely destroyed for writing code. It needs to be batched when it's not an emergency.
Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#56Don't bother reading this article. The "solution"presented is to install red/green lights at your desk to signal to people not to walk up and interrupt you. That isn't the problem. The problem is NOISE, NOISE EVERYWHERE!
It's indeed the noise. I work in a co-working space for a few weeks now - the noise is unbearable. Also, prepare for lots of folks with hearing issues once the headphone overuse kicks in. It won't be pretty.
When I was younger, I was perfectly happy to listen to music all day long while coding. Now I find even that distracting and need quiet. It seems insane that in order to do our job effectively we have to put headphones on and play white noise!
Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#57Is there anyone reading this who has been involved/got the inside scoop in implementation of an open office plan. Was the change in productivity an issue? Did it happen? Was cost savings the only driving force?
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Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#58Why would I ever want to make my light green?
And how does a red light on my desk stop noise?
Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#59I don't care about people coming up to talk to me. It usually means they have something they need help with or an answer to. What bothers me is the noise, and no noise cancellation set of headsets work because they block out white noise but not people talking . In fact, noise cancellation headphones tend to enhance voices, since there is no background noise to dull it. Lights don't solve this. Hats don't solve this.…
I care a lot about people talking to me. When it happens stochastically a dozen times in a day, that day is completely destroyed for writing code. It needs to be batched when it's not an emergency.
I code also, but a few random conversations is not going to ruin my whole day's work.
It's the constant, unrelenting, distracting chatter and noise that stops me from getting any work done.
Re: The Solution for Open Office Frustration
#60Don't bother reading this article. The "solution"presented is to install red/green lights at your desk to signal to people not to walk up and interrupt you. That isn't the problem. The problem is NOISE, NOISE EVERYWHERE!
From the HN guidelines (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html):
Please don't use uppercase for emphasis. If you want to emphasize a word or phrase, put asterisks around it and it will get italicized.
I share your feeling about noise, and so does the person who wrote that guideline. But allcaps is noise in its own right.