I found I was the most productive when I was in a small office with 2-3 other developers, with a door we could close. Everyone was setup this way, and people ended up decorating each of their rooms and every room had a &quot;theme&quot; (ours was called the lounge). This degree of personalization brought me closer to my co-workers whom I shared the office with, and as a result we worked better together.<p>In the afternoons, we&#x27;d have our &quot;coding sessions&quot; where we could close the door and just sink into whatever project&#x2F;problem we were working on. The result (without constant distractions of people walking by&#x2F;around us) was extremely productive.<p>This was back in Ohio years ago. Since then, I&#x27;ve moved to the bay area where I&#x27;ve unfortunately been forced to work in open offices. I find them depersonalizing and my ADD kicks in with people constantly walking by&#x2F;around me. I isolate myself with good noise canceling headphones, but I find myself longing for the days when I shared an office with some really cool dudes. Or, maybe I still haven&#x27;t found a team I like.<p>Anyway, I find it odd that companies in the bay area, with how innovative everything is out here, think open offices are good and&#x2F;or work. You pay people 6 figures to use their mind and then make them sit in a room all day with constant distractions. It makes no sense.