No, not the movie — the concept. Joel on Software has an outstanding overview of how they just built their new office environment.
Thinking out how space is used is criminally ignored. I just had to spend a half hour this morning rearranging my desk because there’s no easy way to get a monitor on my desk without elevating it to sit above the ledge that abuts the window. So my 17” monitor is now sitting on two books — while my docking station is wedged into a corner (because the cables for the various components are not long enough to get to where the docking station should be) that makes it hard to access.
Bottom line — pay attention to this stuff. It’s impressive that Joel and the rest of the company at Fog Creek Software put as much energy into it that they did. I have no doubt they’ll attract the superstars they’re looking for. And after reading this article, do you have any doubt that the software they develop is elegant, functional and exceeds expectations? (Note: I have no idea if it’s true — I haven’t used their stuff. But after reading this report, I don’t doubt it at all.) [tins ::: Rick Klau's weblog]