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“Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

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Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#31

Post by option »

noddingham wrote: post #23
option wrote: post #7

Having worked as researcher/dev in both private office and open space setup, I am absolutely convinced that private offices are way more productive than open office setup for researchers and developers. Most, if not all, of my colleagues feel the same. In fact, I don't think I will ever accept an offer from a mature company (not startup) which houses its developers in open space.

You and all the research seems to agree. Of course, the anecdotal evidence outliers will disagree, but I don't see how there's a debate anymore when you look at productivity.

Google yourself on pros and cons of open office. There are lots of studies on both. I am yet to see practical solutions to noise and disease spread (e.g. flu season) problems.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#32

Post by nostrademons »

Swizec wrote: post #10
option wrote: post #7

Having worked as researcher/dev in both private office and open space setup, I am absolutely convinced that private offices are way more productive than open office setup for researchers and developers. Most, if not all, of my colleagues feel the same. In fact, I don't think I will ever accept an offer from a mature company (not startup) which houses its developers in open space.

The only redeeming feature of open plan comes from Hamming's essay, you and your research: Another trait, it took me a while to notice. I noticed the following facts about people who work with the door open or the door closed. I notice that if you have the door to your office closed, you get more work ✥ done today and tomorrow, and you are more productive than most. But 10 years later somehow you don't ✥ know quite k…

I think Hamming's quote pretty much sums up my personal experience with both open and closed offices. In a private office, your personal productivity is maximized; you get the most lines of code written, the most research done, the hardest problems solved. And yet the cumulative effect of that productivity seems to be much less than that of peers who write little, endure distractions, but are always in tune with which problems people are interested in.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#33

Post by [deleted] »

some1else wrote: post #8

Here's an article with a bunch of sizzling Instagram shots from people who got to take the first look: http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/web/news/a14830/face... I'm really impressed by how non-gimmicky this Gehry building looks on the outside, and it seems like they really did a good job designing whatever space isn't consumed by the open plan.

[deleted]

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#34

Post by option »

vlunkr wrote: post #30
option wrote: post #7

Having worked as researcher/dev in both private office and open space setup, I am absolutely convinced that private offices are way more productive than open office setup for researchers and developers. Most, if not all, of my colleagues feel the same. In fact, I don't think I will ever accept an offer from a mature company (not startup) which houses its developers in open space.

For me, open office + headphones = private office. At a vastly reduced cost. I know that doesn't work for everyone though.

Yes, that's what many devs do. That is of varied efficiency to different people. In laboratory settings, noise has been repeatedly tied to reduced cognitive performance [1].

Also, what happens during flu season? How many people are gone and how often vs private office setting? I'd love to see a study on this.

[1] http://eab.sagepub.com/content/40/2/151.abstract

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#35

Post by EC1 »

vlunkr wrote: post #30
option wrote: post #7

Having worked as researcher/dev in both private office and open space setup, I am absolutely convinced that private offices are way more productive than open office setup for researchers and developers. Most, if not all, of my colleagues feel the same. In fact, I don't think I will ever accept an offer from a mature company (not startup) which houses its developers in open space.

For me, open office + headphones = private office. At a vastly reduced cost. I know that doesn't work for everyone though.

I've tried to make myself believe that I'm more productive with headphones. Unfortunately the truth is I work best in terrifying silence.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#37

Post by rayiner »

some1else wrote: post #8

Here's an article with a bunch of sizzling Instagram shots from people who got to take the first look: http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/web/news/a14830/face... I'm really impressed by how non-gimmicky this Gehry building looks on the outside, and it seems like they really did a good job designing whatever space isn't consumed by the open plan.

The article asks me to prepare for a "serious case of office-envy." My lack thereof: http://m.imgur.com/wMzLSjo.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#38

Post by vonmoltke »

threeseed wrote: post #29
noddingham wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You and all the research seems to agree. Of course, the anecdotal evidence outliers will disagree, but I don't see how there's a debate anymore when you look at productivity.

I don't know if the research is that crystal clear right now. I have no doubt that developers will write more code whilst in offices free of distraction. But the question is do they miss out on key business knowledge by not being around other people. Especially if they are in Agile feature teams.

> But the question is do they miss out on key business knowledge by not being around other people.

Considering the amount of money and effort engineers put into blocking distractions in open-plan offices, it is probably about the same.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#39

Post by jack-r-abbit »

serve_yay wrote: post #36

I wonder how you get around the giant room, and how its space is demarcated. How do you meet up with someone else who is in a faraway part of the room?

Probably the same way people do it at companies that occupy several separate buildings in a complex. You walk.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#40

Post by [deleted] »

nostrademons wrote: post #32
Swizec wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only redeeming feature of open plan comes from Hamming's essay, you and your research: Another trait, it took me a while to notice. I noticed the following facts about people who work with the door open or the door closed. I notice that if you have the door to your office closed, you get more work ✥ done today and tomorrow, and you are more productive than most. But 10 years later somehow you don't ✥ know quite k…

I think Hamming's quote pretty much sums up my personal experience with both open and closed offices. In a private office, your personal productivity is maximized; you get the most lines of code written, the most research done, the hardest problems solved. And yet the cumulative effect of that productivity seems to be much less than that of peers who write little, endure distractions, but are always in tune with whic…

[deleted]
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