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37signals' office seems to say, "You're in, you're out." Fried has, on multiple occasions, suggested that offices are the downfall of work. You're more producti

37signals' office seems to say, "You're in, you're out." Fried has, on multiple occasions, suggested that offices are the downfall of work. You're more productive in your natural environment. Their office seems to reflect that: You come in to work, quickly and efficiently, and then you leave and head home to get your real work done. In contrast, Zappos' office seems to say, "You're already home." [edit] It's also worth pointing out that these companies are employing very different people. Zappos has a huge focus on customer service, and their "people friendly" office reflects that. The engineers and designers at 37signals, however, very well may appreciate the minimalism and simplicity of their environment.

mikeryan 16y ago
To be fair, I'm pretty sure those 37signals pictures were taken right after they moved in. Imagine what cubicle hell Zappo's would have looked like when they first moved in. It would be interesting to see any changes made after a year or so once everyone has settled in a bit.
- jasonfried 16y ago
  They were, you're right. The office will change over time as we settle in. It's already a lot more lively than those pictures showed. We have plants and fresh flowers and art and books and some other things starting to make their way into the space. Time takes care of the personality.
  - rhizome 16y ago
    I really like that 37S chose actual chalkboards.
    - x0t 16y ago
      What about dust?
      - rhizome 16y ago
        Canned air should be as fine as it is for other kinds of dust. Chalk is basically inert, so there are no worries about affecting electronics or anything like that.
    - zaphar 16y ago
      I can't write on a chalkboard or be in the same room as one that is being written on. The sound and feel of them gives me a perpetual shiver and extremely strong physical reaction. The chalkboards would be a significant hindrance to my productivity. I much prefer a whiteboard for this reason.
    - damncabbage 16y ago
      It appear's we're in opposite camps. :) I don't object to the sound or dust so much as how much of a pain in the bum they are to write on. Whiteboard lets you write pretty accurately when you want to, whereas chalkboards and sticks of chalk seem to reduce anything other than large sweeps to painful scratchings. They look very trendy / counter-corporate, but I'd hate having to use the things.
  - tastybites 16y ago
    New-office photos are obviously great showcases of design but they feel like those magazines (Dwell, etc.) where they take photos of homes with no laundry or dishes. Showing stuff that's been lived in has its own separate appeal.
shaggyfrog 16y ago
> In contrast, Zappos' office seems to say, "You're already home." I think the worst thing you can do to an employee is start merging the idea of "home" with the idea of "work". It implies sleeping at your desk and never really "leaving". At least, that's how I'd see it, if I still had a FT job. Full disclosure: I work from home. It's confusing and I'm hoping to get a separate office soon.
- Chris_Newton 16y ago
  > Full disclosure: I work from home. It's confusing and I'm hoping to get a separate office soon. I'm 100% with you on that one. Working from home, particularly with the same equipment and environment for both fun stuff and professional stuff, is really weird and I find it can dilute my sense of when I'm wearing my professional hat and when I'm on my own time. The result is that both can get disrupted by the other more often than I would prefer. I sometimes get to the end of what feels like a long working day, and find that I have only logged a few hours that are billable to a client. Several other things happened during the day, and while I hadn't registered how much time they were using up before, the time sheet does not lie. We've actually been setting up a new home office just these past few days, because not having a separate space finally got too weird now both of us are working from home. Just walking into the room, where everything is perfectly tidy and the shelves contain business stationery and the books are technical ones and the hardware is serious business stuff, changes my perspective and makes me want to concentrate on getting useful stuff done Right Now. I still wear suits to meetings with clients for much the same reason, even though I know they wouldn't care if I was just in jeans and a T-shirt: it's my professional face, and it brings with it my professional mindset. I once read about a guy who had an office in his back room. Every morning he would get up, dress in his work clothes, walk out the front door, walk around the side of his house to the back door, and let himself into his office, even though he could have just walked through the home. I wouldn't go that far myself, but I totally understand why he did it.
enra 16y ago
Like at the my home, at work my desk is clean, and only has things I require to do work and if I have something else, like tea equipment it sits in the office kitchen not on my desk. I might be a personal preference, but I would hate to collect all kinds of crap on my work desk. 37S is also a smaller company, so I would say that people there regard the whole office as their 'home' or house, not just their workspace. It's designed in a away that you can use the office like your home. You have separated rooms for different tasks and people working there are more like a family sharing a house not like a group of people sharing a space and having their own small private place. Like a family, you don't decorate your common areas (hopefully) by what whatever anybody wants, but more having some style, while allowing personal items in some places.

mikeryan 16y ago

To be fair, I'm pretty sure those 37signals pictures were taken right after they moved in. Imagine what cubicle hell Zappo's would have looked like when they first moved in. It would be interesting to see any changes made after a year or so once everyone has settled in a bit.

jasonfried 16y ago
They were, you're right. The office will change over time as we settle in. It's already a lot more lively than those pictures showed. We have plants and fresh flowers and art and books and some other things starting to make their way into the space. Time takes care of the personality.
- rhizome 16y ago
  I really like that 37S chose actual chalkboards.
  - x0t 16y ago
    What about dust?
    - rhizome 16y ago
      Canned air should be as fine as it is for other kinds of dust. Chalk is basically inert, so there are no worries about affecting electronics or anything like that.
  - zaphar 16y ago
    I can't write on a chalkboard or be in the same room as one that is being written on. The sound and feel of them gives me a perpetual shiver and extremely strong physical reaction. The chalkboards would be a significant hindrance to my productivity. I much prefer a whiteboard for this reason.
  - damncabbage 16y ago
    It appear's we're in opposite camps. :) I don't object to the sound or dust so much as how much of a pain in the bum they are to write on. Whiteboard lets you write pretty accurately when you want to, whereas chalkboards and sticks of chalk seem to reduce anything other than large sweeps to painful scratchings. They look very trendy / counter-corporate, but I'd hate having to use the things.
- tastybites 16y ago
  New-office photos are obviously great showcases of design but they feel like those magazines (Dwell, etc.) where they take photos of homes with no laundry or dishes. Showing stuff that's been lived in has its own separate appeal.

shaggyfrog 16y ago

> In contrast, Zappos' office seems to say, "You're already home." I think the worst thing you can do to an employee is start merging the idea of "home" with the idea of "work". It implies sleeping at your desk and never really "leaving". At least, that's how I'd see it, if I still had a FT job. Full disclosure: I work from home. It's confusing and I'm hoping to get a separate office soon.

Chris_Newton 16y ago
> Full disclosure: I work from home. It's confusing and I'm hoping to get a separate office soon. I'm 100% with you on that one. Working from home, particularly with the same equipment and environment for both fun stuff and professional stuff, is really weird and I find it can dilute my sense of when I'm wearing my professional hat and when I'm on my own time. The result is that both can get disrupted by the other more often than I would prefer. I sometimes get to the end of what feels like a long working day, and find that I have only logged a few hours that are billable to a client. Several other things happened during the day, and while I hadn't registered how much time they were using up before, the time sheet does not lie. We've actually been setting up a new home office just these past few days, because not having a separate space finally got too weird now both of us are working from home. Just walking into the room, where everything is perfectly tidy and the shelves contain business stationery and the books are technical ones and the hardware is serious business stuff, changes my perspective and makes me want to concentrate on getting useful stuff done Right Now. I still wear suits to meetings with clients for much the same reason, even though I know they wouldn't care if I was just in jeans and a T-shirt: it's my professional face, and it brings with it my professional mindset. I once read about a guy who had an office in his back room. Every morning he would get up, dress in his work clothes, walk out the front door, walk around the side of his house to the back door, and let himself into his office, even though he could have just walked through the home. I wouldn't go that far myself, but I totally understand why he did it.

enra 16y ago

Like at the my home, at work my desk is clean, and only has things I require to do work and if I have something else, like tea equipment it sits in the office kitchen not on my desk. I might be a personal preference, but I would hate to collect all kinds of crap on my work desk. 37S is also a smaller company, so I would say that people there regard the whole office as their 'home' or house, not just their workspace. It's designed in a away that you can use the office like your home. You have separated rooms for different tasks and people working there are more like a family sharing a house not like a group of people sharing a space and having their own small private place. Like a family, you don't decorate your common areas (hopefully) by what whatever anybody wants, but more having some style, while allowing personal items in some places.