3 ms·
Let me start with an assumption that is often accepted to be true about developers. Many of us are thought to have ADHD or be on the autistic spectrum. People
by cestith 10y ago
Let me start with an assumption that is often accepted to be true about developers. Many of us are thought to have ADHD or be on the autistic spectrum.
People with high functioning autism, especially those that fit what has been known as the Asperger's subset, are very prone to oversensitivity to external stimulation. In people with this oversensitivity, sounds seem louder, lights seem brighter, and everything is more distracting and more nerve-wracking than for the average person.
I think ADHD and distraction is mostly self-explanatory. In addition, it can take even longer after a distraction to get back into the deep concentration needed for complex tasks. However, these folks often if not distracted can stay in that deep concentration zone a very long time.
So when research shows (and it does) that a quiet workplace is more conducive to work that needs long periods of concentration and we're as a community pretty certain that we have a large portion of our group who are more easily distracted and has higher costs for being distracted, how is there any argument against giving a low-distraction workspace?
- jrs95 10y agosquare footage in trendy downtown office spaces is expensive ;)
- cestith 10y agoThat's certainly a factor in contention with a less open workspace. It's not actually an argument against it, but something that should be balanced against it as best is possible.
- LyndsySimon 10y agoSo are developers - and good developers even more so :)
- derekp7 10y agoIf you have a medical diagnosis, can this fall under ADA protection, requiring your employer to provide appropriate accommodations?
- cestith 10y agoI'm not a lawyer, and what is an appropriate accommodation certainly leaves room for interpretation. My understanding is that yes, either diagnosis qualifies under the ADA. How much weight that carries for any specific accommodation I have no idea. My employer values offices. Most aren't very big, but most of the company works in offices. Also, to favor the team dynamic and lower contention on conference rooms, offices for a team surround a conference room for that team in a "pod" architecture. You enter each team's office suite from a hallway into the conference room, and then go to the individual offices from there. You only need to book a conference room elsewhere in the building if there are enough guests from outside the team to overflow your own pod room. It's helped a great deal over having offices right off the hallway for purposes of avoiding distraction and also for getting the team meeting and hack session space with no waiting.