I'd personally rather have option 1 over option 2. The fabric walls absorb sound, block visuals, and give you at least some privacy. Of course, I'd prefer option 3 more, but I think the problem with cubicles is more of a perception problem than actual problems with the cubicles themselves.
Re:Death To The Open Offices Floor Plan
by Florin_Andrei on Friday January 10, 2014 @01:38PM
(#7038439)
> Everyone gets their own private offices [...] this might be unfeasible.
OTOH, millions every year in executive bonuses is not only "feasible", but apparently preferable.
1) Cubicle Farm. In the article, this was voted as "even worse" than an open floor plan.
2) The Open Floor Plan, which is getting a pretty bad rap on HN as of late.
3) Everyone gets their own private offices yay! If you're not working at Sterling Cooper & Partners (where there are private offices for pretty much everyone but "creative" and the secretaries), this might be unfeasible.
4) Some sort of hybrid pseudo-open-but-still-private layout that engenders the best of both worlds. There are a few silicon valley companies that hit this one on the head, and that's awesome.
To get to the point, I think I'd rate each option I've outlined above (using their numeric value) as 3 > 4 > 2 > 1. But it ultimately comes down to a comfort/feasibility ratio. Cubicles are the most feasible, but also the most hated. Private offices for all(TM) is the most desired, and the least feasible. Option 4 is somewhere in the middle, leaning toward less feasible (need a lot of space, etc...). It would seem that the open office is (currently) the most feasible option for companies with little creativity and a tight budget. This is the way I see it. Love them or hate them, in my opinion, open offices have the highest comfort/feasibility ratio.
Thoughts? I'd love other people's opinion on this.
Edit: formatting