[nayuki]

On a related note, I noticed that cubicle offices are hardly better than open offices. The cubicle walls are tall enough to completely obscure the faces and bodies of your neighbors, but do nothing to block the sound. With no eye contact or awareness of your neighbors, it's easy to mistakenly believe that no one else can hear your sounds.

As a result, on a typical day at the office I would hear one coworker yap on personal calls (wife & home renovation) for half an hour (per day!), another coworker talk about company work for an hour on the phone with a distant teammate (with many words related to my work that trigger my attention), and the sound of phones ringing about 10 times (which is never my own phone).

Hearing all the office noise day after day, I thought about a notion called reverse privacy: If your conversation/notification doesn't concern me, then I don't want to hear it. I don't want it to grab my attention, be aware of it, or have to filter it out.

[rhizome]

Having worked in both open-plan offices and cubicle offices I beg to differ. In open-plan, it's by definition that you can hear other people; in cubicles it evolves into the one or a few congenitally loud people doing the noise. "There goes Amy again."

The visual limitations of cubicles help here, because you have a little bit of privacy that motivates people to respect personal space. I'm quieter in cubicles, but not everybody else is, but in open-plan I have to adapt to everyone communicating loudly by being loud myself.

[noir_lord]

How about some kind of sound meter that is attached to the wall of every cubicle, if it measures sustained sound over a preset level it notifies the boss.

Can shoehorn IoT in there somewhere, then you have metrics for everyone in the place and who is doing the distracting.

Could even have a red light on the top that goes off as well.

(Clearly I'm joking..but only just.).

[nitemice]

I'm sure the boss would love to come round every ten minutes to play school-teacher, and tell the noisy kids to keep it down.

[noir_lord]

Well that's what the IoT aspect is for, so many noise events in a defined period and you just send an automated email with a disciplinary notice (again, I'm joking).

Though actually a distributed noise sensor that reports via a simple interface might actually be a useful thing for businesses.

[rhizome]

Beats hiring managers who know how to run a team, I suppose.

[Cthulhu_]

Even if that's the case, I'd prefer it over an open office; I'd have headphones on either way, but a cubicle ensures less visual distractions. Plus surely it dampens the sound people make, so it doesn't carry as far?

[maxxxxx]

Cubicles are terrible. No privacy, a lot of noise and still no good way for talking to people. I also like to see something other than a gray wall the whole day.

[randcraw]

Then decorate your cube. Look at art or photos. There was style and personal expression in the workplace before the sterility of the open office factory floor killed it.

[maxxxxx]

That feels more like a self-decorated prison cell. I think it's important to be able to look outside during the day.

[prodigal_erik]

That's a tough one. I want to see sun at some point but I don't want it in my monitor.

[maxxxxx]

It's perfectly possible to place a monitor in a window room so the sun is not a problem.

[RonanTheGrey]

It is so sterile. It makes me sad.

[guitarbill]

I wouldn't have suspected that with your username ;p

[RonanTheGrey]

Hehe good one

[jodrellblank]

How do you know if the conversation concerns you, before you overhear it?

Giving you a continuous background awareness of what's happening in the company around you ... isn't that part of the claimed benefits of open offices?

[orev]

It's impossible for the human brain to multitask, so what you mean by "background awareness" actually means "constant distraction".

[dalbasal]

Cubicles keep the talking down.