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Message: <blockquote data-quote="embee" data-source="post: 8202448" data-attributes="member: 7026827">When I was working in my uncle's office, he had me solve a longstanding problem. His law practice relies on paper. Volumes of paper. Many of the forms he needs are even still required to be typed. Like on a typewriter. And because of the field, a file may have a lifespan of years or even decades.So the first constraint is "This needs to be a file management system for paper files. Digitization is not possible, practical, or affordable."Most files aren't thick but there is still activity on a large volume. The second constraint is "The system must work within the office's physical space. It cannot be kept off-site."And my uncle is "prickly." Very impatient. So the third constraint is "The system must allow for quick access to any file."My solution was to clear out all of the furniture from the front office, get a bunch of storage shelves, and put all of the boxes and boxes of files onto those shelves. It took several tries.At first, the layout allowed for storage of everything and walking space. But when you pulled out a box, there wasn't enough space. So the shelves had to get spaced to allow for that. And then again to allow someone to walk by another person who might be pulling a file. And then a third time in case two people needed to pull files from the same general area. And then a fourth time to allow for stepladders.Next, how to place files. The initial thought is alphabetical. But that's a non-starter because that could put a highly active file on a high up shelf. So instead, we did the grocery store method. Most active at eye-level, inactive files on the top-most shelf. But that means a lot of lifting. So then we modified it so that the most active files were at waist-height. You can pull out a box mid way, slide the file out quickly, and shove the box back in in quick fashion.And the last problem was what to do about the removal of all of the furniture. The solution to that was to leave an empty level for workspace.You can plan all you want on paper. But you need to extensively test it out in real world situations to see how it will actually function.Epilogue: In my current office, we needed to figure out how to keep track of files in the banks of file cabinets as easily as possible. How often should we relabel the cabinets, who would be in charge of that, etc. Solution: Go down to the dollar store and buy a pack of plastic alphabet magnets. Don't overdesign. Simplest is sometimes best.</blockquote>

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