Aaron reminded me of something a week or so that I’d be remiss if I didn’t write about. Apparently July marks the 40th anniversary of the cubicle. Originally coined the “Action Office,” the cubicle is meant to isolate workers from the sights and noises of their office–theoretically allowing workers more privacy and helping them to concentrate without distractions.
We don’t have cubicles at Orange Element. We don’t think they’re really good for collaboration, which is one of the contributing factors for the successful work that comes out of our shop (plus, who wants to stare at a fabric-covered wall for inspiration?). That said, if we were into cubicles, we’d want them to resemble what design firm IDEO came up with back in 2001 as their version of the ideal cubicle. Their design allowed for modules that could be selected based on an occupants needs. It’s a very cool idea.
If you could design your own cubicle, what features would yours have? I have a few ideas:
Whiteboard
Sound system (with a dome to keep the noise in my cubicle)
Foot massager
Single serve coffee maker
Treadmill
Smoked glass (so you can see when someone is coming)
USB-powered mini-greenhouse
Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com
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Coming Soon! |
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Haha doesn’t sound like you’d be getting a lot of work done in that dream cubicle. But it sounds like fun!!
yaaay IDEO!
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[...] here’s a link to a blog where the cubicle written about: http://www.orange-blog.com/2008/07/28/happy-40th-cubicle/ [...]