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Ending the open office epidemic

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Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#111

Post by johnchristopher »

joesmo wrote: post #76

Another negative about open office plans that I don't see people mentioning is the hearing loss due to having to wear headphones up to eight hours a day. Headphones are generally not recommended to be used more than an hour a day and even then, they need to be at a low volume, something that's impossible in the open-office plans I've seen/worked in. "As a rule of thumb, you should only use MP3 devices at levels up to…

> Another negative about open office plans that I don't see people mentioning is the hearing loss due to having to wear headphones

Oh, it has been mentioned. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5078314 I remember :).

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5078026 http://theheadphonesrule.com/

Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#112

Post by rnovak »

joesmo wrote: post #76

Another negative about open office plans that I don't see people mentioning is the hearing loss due to having to wear headphones up to eight hours a day. Headphones are generally not recommended to be used more than an hour a day and even then, they need to be at a low volume, something that's impossible in the open-office plans I've seen/worked in. "As a rule of thumb, you should only use MP3 devices at levels up to…

Oh man, I'm going to be screwed by the time I hit 30, at 27 I've been listening to music about 7+ hours (realistically) a day, at about 40-50% volume, for the last 9 years. Maybe someone will invent a bionic ear?!?

Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#113

Post by blacksmith_tb »

tarikjn wrote: post #6
someotherdb wrote: post #4

A chap in our office runs to work each day, changes and leaves his damp sweaty clothes around his desk to dry. This means people give him lots of space, and practically his own office.

In my opinion, a good office should have (a) shower(s) -- unless it's right next to a gym, a spot to take naps, and a spot to take private calls. In addition of a layout fit for the way teams are organized.

This seems like a good rule - but it would be easier to look for office space near gyms than build those out yourself, I would think. Or perhaps it's a business opportunity waiting to happen for some pop-up gyms to open amongst office towers...

Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#114

Post by bduerst »

GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #100
joesmo wrote: post #76

Another negative about open office plans that I don't see people mentioning is the hearing loss due to having to wear headphones up to eight hours a day. Headphones are generally not recommended to be used more than an hour a day and even then, they need to be at a low volume, something that's impossible in the open-office plans I've seen/worked in. "As a rule of thumb, you should only use MP3 devices at levels up to…

If you get big cans instead of little bitty earbuds you can keep the volume down lower, not to mention noise cancellers. (I'm partial to sennheiser, but just get something nice)

I have big ears, but the Audio Technica ATH-A900 fit comfortable around the ear. I would definitely recommend.

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-A900X-Monitor-Headp...

Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#117

Post by ChuckMcM »

diek wrote: post #99
ChuckMcM wrote: post #94

I hope they also publish a follow-up after living in their new office for a year. Specific things that I'm interested in: 1) How would folks relate the understanding of what is going on at the company now, and compared to before? 2) How do folks compare their effectiveness in getting things done for themselves? for others? as a group? 3) What is the one thing they would change? When I joined NetApp it had just acquir…

Can you quantify "got less done" in the non-open plan? Fewer projects? My anecdotal data is that people in an open plan sling more code, but better architectural decisions that don't require as much rework down the line (and as a result smaller 'output') come from private offices.

That is a good quantitative question. The 'sling less code' is the metric I was using.

I would love to come up with a good architectural quality test that was more quantitative. I've got a script that can go count how many times a given function or module was rewritten but running that on our code base of a few million lines of code really doesn't correlate with a 'gut' feeling of good architecture or bad architecture. For example, the Blekko crawler has essentially been rewritten from first principles three times over the 7 years we've been doing this. Generally that was not a result of "bad architecture" so much as it was unknown unknowns, basically writing a crawler that can run unattended for weeks or months is a really complex and often subtly nuanced problem. And sometimes is clear that the rewrite was just because someone didn't understand how something originally worked and so re-implemented it in a more understandable way. What I'm getting to is that code "touches" are not the quantitative measure I'm looking for.

Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#118

Post by _abattoir »

rnovak wrote: post #112
joesmo wrote: post #76

Another negative about open office plans that I don't see people mentioning is the hearing loss due to having to wear headphones up to eight hours a day. Headphones are generally not recommended to be used more than an hour a day and even then, they need to be at a low volume, something that's impossible in the open-office plans I've seen/worked in. "As a rule of thumb, you should only use MP3 devices at levels up to…

Oh man, I'm going to be screwed by the time I hit 30, at 27 I've been listening to music about 7+ hours (realistically) a day, at about 40-50% volume, for the last 9 years. Maybe someone will invent a bionic ear?!?

It's not too far off. We're about five years away from standard stem cell treatments to regrow parts like eardrums and corneas.

Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#119

Post by lowboy »

joesmo wrote: post #76

Another negative about open office plans that I don't see people mentioning is the hearing loss due to having to wear headphones up to eight hours a day. Headphones are generally not recommended to be used more than an hour a day and even then, they need to be at a low volume, something that's impossible in the open-office plans I've seen/worked in. "As a rule of thumb, you should only use MP3 devices at levels up to…

IIRC, it's just the dBs/time and not headphones specifically that contribute to hearing loss. If your ear drums are getting 100 dBs from speakers or 100 dBs from headphones, it should cause the same amount of damage over the same time.

Also "60% of maximum volume" is a poor metric due to differences in headphone impedance and sensitivity.

Re: Ending the open office epidemic

#120

Post by strangetimes »

trhway wrote: post #17

office -> cube -> open floor plan -> next? what can be even worse than the open floor? Transparent floors? No walls at all? I'm sure in a few years we'll know.

How about the entire company sits at one continuous "superdesk"?

"The challenge was to create the most collaborative, creative environment possible. The result? A desk that we could all share, literally--4,400 square feet of undulating, unbroken awesomeness to keep people and ideas flowing."

You can't make this shit up.

http://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/meet-the-barbarian-supe...

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