Jared Spool did a good study on how remote vs colocated affects design. His conclustion is simple enough
The best set up, in order, for design work
* Best: Everyone in the same room
* Good: Everyone remote but in the same time zone
* Bad: Some people together, some people apart, in the same time zone
* Worst: Some people together, some people apart, all in different time zones.
Now the one thing that his work, and indeed most discussion misses is they "Why" of remote workers. No one has tested "Given the available talent in our city, should we hire the best people around we can so that we're all together, or should we set a higher bar for talent and deal with the whole remote issue".
It all comes down to whether or not you can get the best people. Lots of talent tends to flock to big cities (SF, NYC, etc), but that creates its own problem, in that a start-up is now competing with the big spenders offering impressive packages/options/etc.
The best set up, in order, for design work
* Best: Everyone in the same room * Good: Everyone remote but in the same time zone * Bad: Some people together, some people apart, in the same time zone * Worst: Some people together, some people apart, all in different time zones.
Now the one thing that his work, and indeed most discussion misses is they "Why" of remote workers. No one has tested "Given the available talent in our city, should we hire the best people around we can so that we're all together, or should we set a higher bar for talent and deal with the whole remote issue".
It all comes down to whether or not you can get the best people. Lots of talent tends to flock to big cities (SF, NYC, etc), but that creates its own problem, in that a start-up is now competing with the big spenders offering impressive packages/options/etc.
In short, I guess, It depends...
(Edit, forgot the url: http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2012/01/06/design-teams-co-lo... )