Herman Miller’s new white paper “New Technologies, New Behaviors” highlights the ways today’s tech is changing how people accomplish their work in the office. One interesting factor that increases the need for visual privacy is the use of Skype. In the past, only a super-high tech conference room would have videoconferencing technology. Everyone in the room knew when it was on and broadcasting their image and could act accordingly.

In contrast, today the coworker sitting in the desk behind yours could easily be caught on your laptop webcam without their knowledge. That’s not polite or professional. Visual traffic adds to distraction already created by audible background conversations when you’re trying to conference online. So, having some sort of privacy panel on desktops is more important than ever. At least, that’s our takeaway point!

CC license image courtesy of Javier Linares