There’s no doubt that the physical work environment has a big impact on productivity and employee satisfaction, and research abounds on this matter. The typical office design has undergone several transformations over the years, going from private offices to Herman Miller cubicles, then onto open-plan layouts, creative offices and the now-trendy co-working spaces. Such transformations are usually driven by a variety of factors: cost-effectiveness, growing/changing number of employees, flexibility, company culture, and so on. But what do the people who work in these offices really want?

As the debate surrounding the effectiveness of the open-office design continues to heat up, we thought we’d check in with office users to get their take on the ideal work environment. According to recent research, roughly 70% of offices in the U.S. boast an open-plan design, but that doesn’t mean that people enjoy working in that type of setting.

We conducted a survey of 2,107 respondents from all around the U.S., asking them about their ideal office layout, the biggest productivity killers, how the office design affects their work, how they interact with coworkers, as well as a few personal details about their age, location, employment and field of work. Keep reading to see what they said.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE