I can't be the only one who at first thought this would be about the UI layout of OpenOffice.org...
Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
21–30 of 67 posts
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#22I 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…
Is this what you are referring to?
http://zeta.math.utsa.edu/~yxk833/Chris.furniture.html
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#23Headphones are an integral part of the open office layout, especially for developers. I recommend decent-quality sound-isolating earbuds which can give you a personal audio environment at any time without irritating your coworkers.
Using headphones is a sign you don't want to be disturbed, as well. This isn't a sacrosanct rule, but it should be taken into consideration when you choose to interact with someone, possibly interrupting them. If you think they are focused on something, send them an IM instead.
Working from home a day or two a week, or working in the office before or after everyone else arrives or leaves is another good way to avoid interruption.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#24Headphones are an integral part of the open office layout, especially for developers. I recommend decent-quality sound-isolating earbuds which can give you a personal audio environment at any time without irritating your coworkers. Using headphones is a sign you don't want to be disturbed, as well. This isn't a sacrosanct rule, but it should be taken into consideration when you choose to interact with someone, possib…
I would rather have private office where I can listen to the music while I work, then having to wear headphones in open office.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#25Before I read the article I was sure he was talking about OpenOffice.org :(
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#26Headphones are an integral part of the open office layout, especially for developers. I recommend decent-quality sound-isolating earbuds which can give you a personal audio environment at any time without irritating your coworkers. Using headphones is a sign you don't want to be disturbed, as well. This isn't a sacrosanct rule, but it should be taken into consideration when you choose to interact with someone, possib…
Headphones are a great idea for some people. I for myself work best in silence. Even if there is music playing it disturbs my concetration. Maybe I am especially weak at focussing, but I think to some degree this is true to everybody who listens to music while working.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#27Its all about change and shared state. Humans (unlike, say, chickens or purely functional systems) cache state in their heads about the world. In fact the brain operates so slowly compared to a processor that without caching we could not operate. For example, when we catch a ball the reason we are able to predict its trajectory is not because we measure its current speed and direction and then perform some calculatio…
There is a good chance there were paragraphs when he wrote it and HN ignored it, because HN comments require an extra newline. Bad user or bad usability?
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#28Before I read the article I was sure he was talking about OpenOffice.org :(
the title really is confusing! I already thought about what I would want to comment about OpenOffice.org.
Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#29Its all about change and shared state. Humans (unlike, say, chickens or purely functional systems) cache state in their heads about the world. In fact the brain operates so slowly compared to a processor that without caching we could not operate. For example, when we catch a ball the reason we are able to predict its trajectory is not because we measure its current speed and direction and then perform some calculatio…
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Re: Open Office Layout is Bad for Brain
#30I 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…
Hmm, according to that, it sounds like cubes should work better if the employee is facing outward. Computer on the open side of the cube with the screen facing into the cube, rather than computer on the far side of the cube.
Is this common anywhere?