Any survey that sets out to establish what people believe cuts their productivity and annoys them most about their workplace almost invariably throws up the same result; the noise and distractions generated by other people. So it will come as no surprise to learn that the same surveys usually find that employees believe that peace and quiet and freedom from distractions is the most important factor when it comes to getting some decent work done. A survey of 90,000 people by architects Gensler carried out in 2013 found that ‘the most significant factor in workplace effectiveness is not collaboration, it’s individual focus work.’ So, it’s little wonder that how to provide peace and privacy has been one that occupies the thoughts of many workplace and product designers. Some of the solutions they have come up with have been great, some a little less so. Here is our pick of just ten of them