4 ms·

Has anyone studied the environments that great products were produced in (eg, Xerox Parc, Apple)?

apollo 18y ago
Steve Jobs guided the design of the Pixar building. Here's a quote from Brad Bird (director of The Incredibles, Ratatouille): "Then there's our building. Steve Jobs basically designed this building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center--which initially drove us crazy--so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. [Jobs] realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company." Edit: here's the source article, although you'd have to register to read the whole thing: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/innovation_lessons_from_pixar_an_interview_with_oscar-winning_director_brad_bird_2127 http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/innovation_lessons_from_pix...
- comatose_kid 18y ago
  Thanks, that's an interesting data point.
Devilboy 18y ago
I mentioned this in another comment, but the guys from Peopleware did exactly that: http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-Second/dp/0932633439 http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-S... The also conclude that small offices with 2-4 people and a door that can close is best.
- jon_dahl 18y ago
  Interestingly, 2-4 people per office on a small team == an open office plan. Everyone says that Peopleware advocates private offices (e.g. 1 per person), but their main problem seems to be with cube farms.

Steve Jobs guided the design of the Pixar building. Here's a quote from Brad Bird (director of The Incredibles, Ratatouille): "Then there's our building. Steve Jobs basically designed this building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center--which initially drove us crazy--so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. [Jobs] realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company." Edit: here's the source article, although you'd have to register to read the whole thing: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/innovation_lessons_from_pixar_an_interview_with_oscar-winning_director_brad_bird_2127 http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/innovation_lessons_from_pix...

comatose_kid 18y ago
Thanks, that's an interesting data point.

Devilboy 18y ago

I mentioned this in another comment, but the guys from Peopleware did exactly that: http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-Second/dp/0932633439 http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-S... The also conclude that small offices with 2-4 people and a door that can close is best.

jon_dahl 18y ago
Interestingly, 2-4 people per office on a small team == an open office plan. Everyone says that Peopleware advocates private offices (e.g. 1 per person), but their main problem seems to be with cube farms.