Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
infoq.com
Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
1–10 of 67 posts
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#2And there i was going to comment "But MS Office had the same layout for years!".. until i clicked that link.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#3Even with its problems, an open plan is preferable to small window-less offices or cubicles.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#4I wonder if many of the same drawbacks of an open office layout affect cubicle farms as well. I have worked in both situations, and I have not found that cubicle walls significantly dampen office noise. Cubes probably lessen other kinds of distractions, but visual distractions are easy to ignore anyway.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#5And there i was going to comment "But MS Office had the same layout for years!".. until i clicked that link.
I also thought is was about OpenOffice.org until I read your comment.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#6Speaking of "Bad for Brain", InfoQ's website is the worst thing to happen to exposition in computing since leet-speak.
I have seen better aesthetics in an government risk-mitigation newsletter. They get rockstar speakers, but drab them in corduroy & loafers. Awful, just awful.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#7Even with its problems, an open plan is preferable to small window-less offices or cubicles.
I'm sure you have extensive research to support this conclusion - can you share it with us? Sometimes the most obvious opinions and beliefs turn out to be wrong, and it's useful to see the actual research.
Thanks.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#8Personally, I find working in an open office environment terribly distracting. It feels like a constant meeting and people always feel now is a good time for a question or a chat.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#9I remember some research quoted by Christopher Alexander (of design patterns fame.) although I cannot find the reference at the moment. I believe it was in the justification section for the "half-open wall" pattern.
The gist of it was that people tend to prefer spaces that are about half closed (I'm quoting from memory, I'm aware this quantification is imprecise) - i.e. somewhere between a lone desk in the middle of a huge room (0% closed) and a cubicle (almost 100% closed). Something striking the balance between the feeling of being shielded (nobody likes open space behind their backs) and being cramped (nobody likes a view-blocking wall in front of their nose.)
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#10Even with its problems, an open plan is preferable to small window-less offices or cubicles.
I'm sure you have extensive research to support this conclusion - can you share it with us? Sometimes the most obvious opinions and beliefs turn out to be wrong, and it's useful to see the actual research. Thanks.
When categorizing information, it is possible to recognize personal opinions as such and handle it appropriately.