Office Desks are Important in a Wireless Age
When I attended a Microsoft Seminar last week, the presenter said that office furniture – desks, in particular — are unnecessary in a wireless, high-tech age. He might have been joking — if he was, it’s a poor joke. After all, he was presenting in Grand Rapids, Michigan — the home of office furniture. Everybody in attendance has some economic stake in the city’s key industry.
But then again, he might not have been kidding. Microsoft built a wireless tree house to demonstrate just how unnecessary an office is. Apparently, MS programmers can do their work swinging from trees (and the quality of Microsoft software often reflects this!)
My current office is colorful and functional — but I need a new look and feel. Everyone does, from time to time. I’m basing my new look on a palette inspired by Dali’s Persistence of Memory. I want my space to reflect a more Web 2.0 look and feel — and Dali has it. So does Paul Klee’s Twittering Machine. Some people look for a piece of art that goes above the couch — I’m more inclined to be inspired by a piece of art — and then design a whole room around it!
That’s just me though.
Today’s Friday — and it’s a gorgeous summer day. I’m on the back balcony with my wireless laptop. I’m looking at flowers and butterflies. (That’s me, in a snap from my video cam on the deck!)
But let’s face it — this is a Friday afternoon, a rare-August moderate-temperature day. I’m not going to make a habit out of hanging outside every day of the week. I don’t care what MS says. Steady work from a tree would seriously inhibit my productivity.
In a wireless, hi-tech era, office design is important for three reasons. Maybe more, but here are my top three:
- Investing in a great office space helps tech and creative businesses recruit the best employees: designers, programmers, writers, artists, thinkers, etc. You can charge more for superstars than you can for hacks — so you get back more than every penny of that office furniture investment.
- And those office superstars? You can make the office so darn comfortable and gorgeous that they’ll want to spend more time working in their ergonomically-gifted chairs and elegantly designed offices. More work means greater productivity…and more billable hours. More money.
- I spend over a third of my life in my chair, in my office. I want to aesthetically enjoy this time away from family and friends. Yes, I also go out of the office to work. But my home office in Grand Rapids, Michigan is my base and my colorful, vibrant, creative space.
I’m way more productive and creative in a beautiful, well-designed office. You?
PS – Designing an office is like designing a website. Joel on Software outlines the importance of a cool office — but I especially dig that he notes the “brief” or “systems requirements” that go into building a high-functioning office — or website. I find myself asking clients “Are search engines important for your company? Yes? Then put it in your systems requirements — when you first build your site. ”
Build your site on a solid platform that allows for change and growth — and supports search! In designing an office space — or a web site — start with good, stable architecture.
Anything else, and you’re building on quicksand! (How’s that for ending the week’s blog on a dreaded cliche? 
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[...] Last month, I was in the dreamy planning stages of my cool new office design project. [...]