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Color Me Productive
sartin writes "Forget the saturated colors from The Andromeda Strain lab, researchers at The University of Texas report how color affects productivity. The results have some expected (different things work for different people) and some surprising (bright red is very good for some people) tidbits. At long last, I have scientific proof that the taupe and beige on my cubical wall are not the best colors for my productivity."
These gray cube walls ARE sucking the life out of me!
www.linux-skunkworks.com
Now what I want is wallpaper that can change color, something like the smart paper being developed where colored balls are suspended in a layer over the paper and can be moved towards or further from the layer to generate different apparent colors, or colored different on two sides and rotated between those 2 shades to generate the desired appearance. The tech isn't fast enough to watch the news on, but its fine for a static image, and doesn't really require any power to maintain.
Then I can make my whole wall green on days where I'm not too focused, and red on days where I want some boost.
We have known for a long time that, red, and the combonation of yellow / black has been a warning sign.
We also know that some people react better in stressful situations.
Has anyone tested to see if the same people that react well in stressful situations are more (or less) effected by these color schemes?
I know the artical says "different people", but im wondering on a indivual basis, if this holds true in the other sense.
I.e. Does a person who will stand and fight, match with the same colour scheme as someone else who stands and fights, or does the "way" your mind interpets colours change indenpently of this?
- http://www.milkme.co.uk
Now, since she's working for NASA, the color scheme of the ISS will be two tone- red indicating the direction of centrifigal force, blue-green indicating the other direction, with wainscotting (and how much will it cost us to use the shuttle to ship all of that wainscotting up every time we redectorate)?
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
...when the truth was closer to Goodfellas.
You notice how there aren't any figures given? Just a bunch of qualitative statements like "Kwallek found that in the short term, workers made more errors in white rooms, regardless of their screening ability." and "Over time, however, all-white environments tend not to affect work performance." How many errors? Over what time interval? What are the estimated accuracy of these error counts? This, my friends, is interior decorating masquerading as science. Your tax dollars at work. Nothing to see here.
Unfinished pine, oak, mahogany, leather.
For the walls, well, original paintings.
For the floor: 1 inch shag, eggshell.
Oh wait, we're looking at cheap material/gaudy colors for code farms, to help the corporate tigers squeeze more poductivity from the great unwashed masses.
I'll pass then.
"Piter, too, is dead."
I guess that explains the hideous color scheme for the slashdot IT section... it's the color that makes you most productive.
Of course, the fact that your reading it instead of doing work probably negates any potential increase in productivity.
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/rotsnake.gif.
Or, if productivity doesn't increase, the employees will end up killing themselves, thus saving the boss the effort of having to fire him.
Umpteen decades ago, scientists studying productivity at Western Electric's manufacturing complex were baffled because everything they did seemed to work. They increased lighting levels: productivity went up. They decreased lighting levels: productivity went up. They finally figured out that what was increasing productivity was the workers' perception that management was displaying an interest in improving their working conditions. See Hawthorne studies
An article like "color me productive" that doesn't mention the Hawthorne effect and explain why they don't think this is just more of the same... is garbage.
Furthermore, any study that doesn't compare the relative effects of: spending money on painting the walls red; spending the same money on alternative improvements (bigger cubicles, better chairs, quieter rooms, better lighting); spending the same money on raises... is garbage.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
The color that boosts productivity is green. Green, as in money. Throw money at me, watch how much more I work. No, putting candy that I have to pay for in the kitchen won't boost my productivity. No, bringing a motivational speaker won't boost my productivity. No, telling me we all have to work 18 hours a day to stay with the competition and that I should be excited about the challenge won't boost my productivity. M$O$N$E$Y. MONEY. Gimme money and I'll work harder.
(Sorry, that little rant's been building up in my system for years.)
"Derp de derp."
o_O Egad! That's not even an animated GIF!
The parent poster's image came from this web page...
They have got to be the best optical illusions I've ever seen! I wonder if they would still work as well when printed instead of a computer screen, though...
Those who complain about affect & effect on
Green seems to really motivate me. Not $ure why...
.sigs are for post^Hers.
Interior Wildfire lab. A message flashes across a computer screen:
DEGENERATIVE CHANGE IN GASKET G455-1
DEGENERATIVE CHANGE IN GASKET G455-2
DEGENERATIVE CHANGE IN GASKET G455-3
HALL: The lab's been compromized!
COMPUTER VOICE: Self-destruct sequence has been initiated. There are now five minutes to detonation.
STONE: Quick, you've got to get up to the taupe level, to stop the sterilization protocol!
HALL: (long pause) Taupe?!
STONE: Yes, there's no substation on the beige or ivory levels. Get going!
Hall slowly walks off.
HALL: (to himself) Taupe? What the hell kind of color is taupe?
Later:
COMPUTER VOICE: There are now thirty seconds to detonation.
Hall exits the stairwell and looks around. The walls are a uniform grey color. He presses the intercom button.
HALL: Hey, Stone! Is this taupe? It all looks gray to me.
STONE: What are you doing on the ecru level? Taupe, Hall! Taupe!
HALL: TAUPE?!? Yeah, I got your taupe right here--
The nuclear device detonates, vaporizing everyone in the complex. The resulting mushroom cloud is a lovely shade of umber.
A pale sky color, a horizen, and then an earth tone ... like being outside. Could it be that instinct makes us more aware and work more/better outside? Nah, it was all her research I am sure. Yeesh, next study: "Why having large dried blood spays on the walls causes employee absence." and "Why vomit on the carpet reduces productivity."
Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
Most of the images were in color, so I couldn't test them by printing them out myself... (No color printer right now...)
Those who complain about affect & effect on
since I got cubicle partitions covered with forest print/camo fabric instead of dirty beige.
it's the access to /. at work that lowers productivity.
One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure.
I personaly would not want my cubical colors picked based on some testing. Although bieng dignosed that you are productive only when everything is colored black, with a few blue leds for illumination purposes. Could be kinda cool(I know blue LEDS are getting overused, but I like its pretty light). But immangine if you had to work in a cubicle filled with pastels or bright colors. Some people might find it a little difficult.
Insert Witty Remark Here ===>____________________________