13 ms·
Sometimes I think one of the more important innovations in development technology is the headphone. Open-plan development without great ways to block out noise
by CurtMonash 12y ago
Sometimes I think one of the more important innovations in development technology is the headphone. Open-plan development without great ways to block out noise would be ridiculous.
- Blackthorn 12y agoI work in an open-plan office and it's the most miserable thing in the world, even with headphones. After this I will never again accept a job without a private office.
- curlyquote 12y agoExactly my feelings.
- keyle 12y agoI'm completely with you on that one. Death stares at people having "meetings" without meeting rooms doesn't seem to help either.
- sliverstorm 12y agoI have not been blessed with a private office yet, but fortunately cubes are still dramatically better than open-plan (IMO).
- jbigelow76 12y agoI had a nice compromise at a startup I was at a few years back. Large offices, two developers per, with their dual monitor setups back to back and whiteboards behind each dev. It was a good balance, you could easily collaborate with the rest of the team when necessary and the other dev could stay pretty much heads down (especially with headphones).
- iolothebard 12y agoIt's sad that we live in a world where the cube is now the "good" option. If I ever have another company, if I can't afford the office space, I don't need the person. Office space is cheap compared to salary and wasted productivity.
- snambi 12y ago100% agree. Not only that 100% of all my coworkers hate open-plan office. Even managers hate the open-plan office. It is only good for one thing, cheaper. thats all.
- hliyan 12y agoI have to agree. Last year I went from a workplace that had a massive open-plan office to one with small rooms. My general productivity level is about the same, but my problem-solving efficiency has gone way up. I'm convinced that peripheral sensory input breaks your concentration even if it doesn't consciously "bother" you.
- allegory 12y agoThis. Life is better now I work from home. It's better to have the kids screaming in the background than people tapping your shoulder and blasting your entire thought process out of the window.
- disputin 12y agoAgreed. Having to wear headphones is unpleasant. I can't work unless I have crap on my head, and I have to listen to music? Ridiculous. Shortly before I left my last position the new manager arranged the seating so that the most communicative people were in the centre, for ease of access, so the majority of the noise was right in the middle of the workspace, constant, and inescapable. Productivity destroyed.
- RandallBrown 12y agoI work in an open plan office where we pair program 100% of the time. I was miserable working by myself in a private office.
- scuba7183 12y agoPair programming 100% of the time sounds miserable to me
- bbarn 12y agoOpen floorplan works if the entire "open area" is engaged in a common goal. In that case, headphones can be more of a hindrance than a help. However, in the case where the open floorplan is simply an office cost savings measure that puts mixed goals in a small collocated area, then yes, headphones..
- existencebox 12y agoThe latter is so important, I'll risk a vapid comment just to second this. To echo the sentiment of a commenter below, you don't realize how miserable a mixed open office is until you are trying to do work with a standup happening 2 feet away from your head. (Disclaimer; Microsoft employee without a personal office, quite jealous of those with.)
- bbarn 12y agoThe place I'm at now is the only job I've had (or place I've contracted with, met with etc.,) that's gotten this right. The whole open floor plan thing, to work well, has to have a reasonably accessible way to escape it when necessary. Open offices can only work, IMO, when there's a breakout room, or in general some sort of closed door room anyone can jump into and get things done or have a 4 person meeting. There's just no escaping the need to have privacy for the point of thinking, or even privacy for the point of talking. Maybe there's a perfect job in a perfect world where everything is open, but in my experience, there's a need to get away from the group once in a while, either alone or with a group.
- Blackthorn 12y agoEven that wouldn't work for me with open offices because I can't simply pick up my giant desktop and move in there to do work -- I'm completely stuck in the open office.
- existencebox 12y agoBeat me to it; this is precisely the problem. There are these sort of offices available, but the problem is the cost of the context switching, a distraction being an involuntary context switch.
- m_mueller 12y agoThere's a type of office that often gets overlooked and IMO is the best of both worlds: The spacious cubicle[1]. I like having my own corner with lots of table space, my own drawer etc. in a semi-closed cubicle. Engaging with someone is still easy - stand up, look how engaged he is in his work (headphones on?) and decide whether it's a good time to talk to him. Nurture a calm environment (good isolating cubicle walls help a lot, put sales people into their own closed offices) and you IMO have the perfect environment for developers. Having nothing but a grey wall and two nice big displays in front of me (preferably metallic so I can put my current thoughts on paper and hang it up with magnets) is a zen-like experience and helps me concentrate a lot. [1]http://images.wisegeek.com/cubicle.jpg http://images.wisegeek.com/cubicle.jpg
- morgante 12y agoUnfortunately the image of cubicles is inextricably tied to soul-crushing corporations (ex. Office Space).
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- m_mueller 12y agoYes, that's unfortunate, because I'd take this over Open Plan any day. I think one reason why Open Plan is so popular in nowadays is that it's way cheaper than good cubicles and managers can 'sell' the cost savings to employees by appearing forward thinking and open minded.
- keithpeter 12y agoReminds me of the study carrels in a local University library. They were good for getting essays written.
- megaman821 12y agoI am always surprised people are so opinionated about open floor plans. Unless we are talking about sirens and crying babies, I can just ignore the background noise and keep working. Although I have been sharing a room with someone or another since I was 3 years old, so filtering out noise might to just a sanity mechanism at this point.
- recursive 12y agoThere is at least one person on HN who likes open floor plans. I know this because I'm that person. When I worked in one, I never found myself distracted by conversations, and most often didn't realize they were happening.
- russgray 12y agoI'm fine with them too. I like the hubbub.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y agoOpen plan is Kryptonite for introverts. We need silence and no distractions. But you'd probably go insane in my working environment, which is in a house surrounded by fields miles from a city with no one else in it, except me. Point is, you should tailor the spaces to the individuals working in them. There is no Generic Industry Standard Employee. Which is why trying to enforce Generic Industry Standard Working Environments is maybe not such an effective way to get cool stuff out the door. As for Agile etc - it's a 20th century methodology, not a 21st century one. I have no idea what 21st century software development is going to look like. Nor does anyone else, because no one has invented it yet.
- timrichard 12y agoI've worked in open plan offices for most of my career, as it's very common in the UK. I believe the last role took the biscuit, though.... Open plan with hotdesking and lockers... Primary coloured lockers, so it looked like a poor man's GooglePlex. Where the meagre budget had run out halfway through. You could never be sure where you would be the next morning, or next to whom (inc. constantly teleconferencing middle managers). There were two banks of desks with dual monitors, supposedly reserved for developers. Sometimes, non-technical personnel would grab them, and not even use the monitors... Just their laptop screens (for Outlook, basically). That was slightly irksome :-)
- quanticle 12y agoLet's see if you think this in twenty years, when you need a hearing aid. Headphone use, at any volume, is positively correlated with hearing loss. Hearing damage is cumulative, and the vast majority of hearing loss isn't caused by exposure to very short, very loud sounds, it's caused by exposure to sounds that are just a little bit too loud, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. And, almost by definition, if the music is loud enough to drown out ambient noise in an open-plan office, it's loud enough to damage your hearing if you're exposing yourself to it 8 hours a day. I mean, the only way it wouldn't be is if your office were as quiet as a tomb (or a recording studio), and if that were the case you wouldn't need headphones in the first place. I work in an open plan office. I don't wear headphones. Yes, it's annoying. Yes, it's distracting. Yes, it's better than losing my hearing.
- PhantomGremlin 12y agoWhy not try earplugs? $15 for a year's supply. They are "disposable" but each can easily last for a week or two. http://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Tekk-Protection-Multi-Color-Disposable-Earplugs-80-Pack-92800-80025T/202691611 http://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Tekk-Protection-Multi-Color-Di... I use the 3M brand and can recommend them.
- nordsieck 12y agoI can't stand foam earplugs, but I am an avid user of silicone earplugs. I especially like these guys: http://www.earplugstore.com/ultrafit25.html http://www.earplugstore.com/ultrafit25.html When I'm feeling like I really need quiet I'll throw on a pair of ear muffs on top of that. The only caveat is that you need to be comfortable with silence: the ear plugs will really cut down on background noise (e.g. AC and TV).
- quanticle 12y agoI don't find earplugs comfortable, but you got me thinking and I might buy a set of hearing protection earmuffs (http://www.amazon.com/3M-Peltor-Ultimate-Hearing-Protector/dp/B000PW98WO/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1407354895&sr=1-5&keywords=hearing+protection http://www.amazon.com/3M-Peltor-Ultimate-Hearing-Protector/d...). As a bonus, I think having a set of bright blue earmuffs on would more of a visible "do not disturb" symbol than earplugs. Thanks for the idea. :)
- greggman 12y agoI'm curious your take on some of the research claiming people are more productive and/or more creative at a coffee shop with noise surrounded by people than in a quiet place alone Google for "more productive at coffee shops". That would seem to suggest that maybe private offices aren't quite always best
- silverbax88 12y agoAmbient soft noise from people not interacting with you is hardly the same as trying to concentrate in a room full of people actively watching what you are doing and trying to get your attention.
- mercer 12y agoI feel more productive in coffee shops, but I think a crucial difference between a coffee shop and an open office is that in a coffee shop you are less likely to be interrupted. I suspect whether one can work better with some background 'noise' (sounds and sights) is partly a personality characteristic, but that interruptions are universally disastrous when one tries to be productive.