Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with innovative

Innovative office design: What works and what doesn't?

degrees_of_freedom — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:15:03 -0800

Innovative Workspaces: What works and what doesn't? I work for a big and quite old company, in a department that does financial and operational analysis. We're all holed off in offices on the edges and 6 ft cubes in the middle. It's grey and taupe. One executive called our floor "the morgue" because of the lifeless atmosphere.

So the boss got a budget to liven up the space.

Three others and I were put on a somewhat secret committee to redesign the office. Here are the parameters as I understand them.

- Encourage more interaction and creative problem solving.
- Create a money-is-no-object concept and design. No constraints except the outline of the floor.
- Create an ultra-frugal version.
- Create as many versions as we want.
- It may amount to nothing. There's already a folder - that we can't see - with ideas (from the boss? a pro designer?).

I'm no designer, but I've been researching innovative office spaces. It looks like design trends have moved towards reduced barriers, sofas instead of conference tables, lots of shared space and privacy/quiet rooms on the sides.

A few questions:

- Have you worked in this more communal, innovative style? What made you happy and effective, and what are the empty gimmicks?

- Have you converted from a conservative, cubicle world to something more forward-thinking? What changed?

- More generally: suggestions welcome. Concepts that work/didn't work for you, colors, furniture, wall dividers, floor plans, blogs, books, experts, photos of your awesome workspace, anything.

I'm having so much fun just being a part of this project, and I'd like to hear your point of view.

Extra deaths in Shakespeare's Hamlet?

booksandlibretti — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:57:33 -0800

Productions of Hamlet in which an additional character dies unexpectedly? (spoilers for a 400-year-old play and modern productions) One currently running production does this (once the show closes, I'll comment to give you the details). I saw it, and was amazed -- then curious whether it'd ever been done before.

A friend suggested that Martin Sheen's Hamlet, from 1968's Public Theater production in Central Park, may have done something similar with a Vietnam-y setting. Unfortunately I can't find information about that assertion, either way.

People expected to die in Hamlet:
-Hamlet
-Hamlet's dad (offstage)
-Fortinbras's dad (offstage)
-Polonius
-Claudius
-Gertrude
-Ophelia
-Laertes
-Rosencrantz
-Guildenstern

Know about a production with an even higher death toll? I'm interested in anything you've got -- from the local production in a church basement on up. The more documentation, the better, obviously. I have access to jstor and other scholarly resources, so feel free to link those articles as well as any others you find. Thanks!

"Keep ancient lands, your storied juice!" cries he!

blue_beetle — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 18:32:02 -0800

Innovative juice ideas/recipes? So I've been invited to a new years dinner, and I was assigned the job of bringing the juice. But here's the thing, it's got to be something "new" for the "new year". Meaning plain old grocery store juice won't cut it. I need something that won't disappoint, a juicy type beverage that says "Welcome to the new year!". A juice that defies mere mortals to sup on its sweet nectar. A juice among juices, truly a juice for all seasons.

Non-alchoholic beverages only please!

Make Money The Odd Way

divabat — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 19:08:19 -0800

Interesting entrepreneurial ventures - what are some unique and quirky ways that people have used to make money? The ones I've heard:
Million Dollar Homepage
Selling stories on the street

Any others?

What websites make your list of paradigm-shifting or milestone sites?

atom71 — Thu, 06 Jan 2005 18:39:44 -0800

What websites throughout net history would make your list of paradigm-shifting or milestone sites that established new patterns and possibilities for www content and functionality. Recent examples on my list are Flickr and Del.icio.us but I’m trying to identify the advent of similarly ground breaking websites over the past 15 years. Also do you know of any representations/timelines of this kind of thing?