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Comment by JohnBooty | Hacker News Reader

The eternal "open floor plan versus programmer-friendly caves" debate makes it painfully clear: there's no one right answer. Why is this hard to understand?

Different people have different styles and needs. In fact, the same person might have different needs on different days. Sometimes I love working in a beehive when collaboration is key; other times I'd much prefer to be working in a soundproof underground bunker.

Why is this so hard to understand? Why do nearly all offices try to adopt a one-size-fits all approach that is just so obviously going to frustrate at least 50% of the employees?

It just seems so simple - design a workplace with both collaborative and private work areas. Let people take their laptops and sit wherever the %(#*@ they want on a minute-to-minute basis. That's really so difficult?

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> It just seems so simple - design a workplace with both collaborative and private work areas. Let people take their laptops and sit wherever the %(#*@ they want on a minute-to-minute basis. That's really so difficult?

Option 3: It's 2013, the internet exists, let people work wherever in the world they feel most productive. Judge them on their output, not their butt being in a seat for 8 hours.

We do exactly that. I've never been more happy and productive in my life.

And before someone jumps in to say it doesn't scale, we're 600 employees, or of which about 400 work from home, so while we're not huge, were definitely past startup size :)

Where do you work again? (looking to escape open office hell)

Are you hiring?

Yes, it is. Your back and/or hands will explain why soon enough.

I've been working exclusively with laptops for > 6 years now... how long do I have to wait?

laptops are not productive (for me). I like the Valve approach of putting your entire workstation on a movable desk, and you just wheel your entire desk to where you need to be at the time. Collaborate for a few weeks? No problem. Go off to a closet for three weeks while you solve a difficult algorithmic problem? Just unplug and go.

(this is not me disagreeing with you, just expanding on your point)

Honest question: Why are laptops not productive for you?

I would hate having only a laptop as my development workstation, or having to take my laptop/keyboard/mouse around to different Thunderbolt displays throughout the office. My work setup is a Macbook Pro, but I very rarely unplug it from the Thunderbolt display (and thus keyboard, mouse, etc.) on my desk.

A company a friend of mine works for does something like this. You have a desk, at your desk is a laptop, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Your desk is yours to personalize and it's in an open area. Want a quiet room? There's a few dedicated working rooms for individuals or small teams, grab your laptop and move there. Work in an office but want the collaborativeness for a bit? Grab your laptop and move to one of the unused desks.

Sure, it involves investing in a space with lots of extra room, but they have been very successful in it so far for the last 5 or so years.

It's funny... that would be awesome for me. But most of my coworkers want to plaster their iMac's with to-do post-its, put up photos, store snacks/Advil/whatever in their drawers, keep knicknacks/doodads/plants on their desks, etc. -- personalize their space.

I'm not sure how they'd feel about enforced mobility. I guess you could reserve a certain % of the office for mobile-people-only spaces?

Valve is said to have workstations on moveable desks - you need to work on other project or in quieter place - unplug your desk and roll it to other location.

  But most of my coworkers want to plaster their iMac's 
  with to-do post-its, put up photos, store snacks/Advil
  /whatever in their drawers, keep knicknacks/doodads/plants 
  on their desks, etc. -- personalize their space.

I get it; I'm one of those types. I do like a small amount of space that's "mine." :)

I think the answer can be as simple as giving each worker a small home "cave" and then having some shared spaces that encourage collaborative work.

Not that different (and not even necessarily more space-hungry) from what a lot of companies do anyway, really, with the old "cubicles and conference rooms" setup.

The only problems with that setup are 1) the cubicles are rarely quite private enough for real deep, contemplative work, and 2) grabbing a shared space is enough of a pain (having to reserve a conference room through the receptionist, or whatever) that it's subtly discouraged for purposes of impromptu collaboration.

I believe Pixar's offices are arranged something like this. Each artist has private space, but the common areas linking private spaces are hubs that encourage interaction and cross-traffic.

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