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Comment by rhcom2 | Hacker News Reader

And how jarring it is to have someone walk up behind you and tap on your desk, or your shoulder, to get your attention while wearing headphones.

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After a coworker screamed twice from this I made them a pretty RGB-LED display that flashes a rainbow when you press the button at the entrance to their cube. I am surprised I haven't seen any good products in this space. I feel like you could make good money selling programmers something that is essentially a button, battery LED and 6' of wire.

I’ve seen a product (forget the name) that does the opposite signalling. USB powered RGB light dongle on your desk/cube. Red means “don’t interrupt me unless the building is on fire”, orange was “don’t interrupt me” , green was “feel free to bug me with that question”

I’m sure they could be repurposed the way you suggest. But don’t most people in open spaces use slack or equivalent for that?

My mum has something that does this. She calls it a 'doorbell'. Doesn't even need the wire.

I just bought a new wireless doorbell. You can configure the sound and lights separately, so it would definitely work in this instance.

I had just replied to the comment above yours that doorbells do indeed have wires. Forgot completely about the new wireless ones. That makes much more sense.

JWZ draped camouflage netting around his desk to make an ad-hoc "Tent of Doom": https://www.jwz.org/tent-of-doom/ . Maybe an actual tent would be even better.

Surrounding yourself by whiteboards might also allow you to approximate walls.

They used to hand out as convention swag a little rear view mirror you attached to the corner of your monitor so you could see what's behind you.

For people who prefer the opposite approach, they should also hand out horse-style blinkers that restrict the wearer's field of vision to the front.

I have one of those in my home office. For me it works. For others it would just add to the visual distraction. Something that is visible only when someone else is requesting attention still seems preferable.

have someone walk up behind you and tap on your desk

I've got two colleagues that are horrible about this. Fortunate enough to have an office with a door, and play music quietly at my desk so I'll hear it if someone knocks--since I face slightly away from the door.

Except they'll skip knocking and just walk in and around my desk to do the shoulder tap if the door's open.

I've been training them out of this behavior by saying "oh hey did you knock? I must have missed it, what's up?"

Time will tell how this goes, heh.

Uh, do they just answer "no" and keep doing the same shit? I suggest you be a little more direct. "If the door's open, could you still knock so I know you're there? The shoulder tap is startling."

Yeah, some people just don't get subtlety. They have to be told directly.

I haven't written any unit tests for this yet :P

I _always_ wear headphones and I don't recall anyone actually tapping me on the shoulder to get my attention, which is good, because that kind of thing can startle the crap out of me. Usually they have to resort to waving their hand in my field of view, but that works fine.

Although I do wear headphones pretty much constantly, I have always made a point to be responsive to people and not ignore them. If someone needs my attention, they will get it, and I made a point of doing everything I can to help people. Yes, I'd rather not be disturbed, but if they really need my help, then I will gladly stop and help. This is no different than if I were in a cubicle or my own office. I have no problems with that kind of distraction. It's the unintentional distractions that we need to eliminate.

A better way is to wave your hand in-front of them. It is a visual clue and as long as it in their view it allows them to finish without the monitor being blocked. I like it but that is my two cents.

Why don't you turn around and request in a polite manner never to be tapped on the shoulder again?

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