A recent study at the University of Utah found “people who used two 20-inch monitors were 44 percent more productive at certain text-editing operations than people using a single 18-inch monitor.”
While the real world impact of using two monitors over a single monitor may vary by user and task, there is no denying that today’s multi-tasking workforce stands to benefit from a multi-monitor setup.
Think about the impact of this study. A potential increase in productivity from an investment of ~$500 per employee. Even if the numbers from the study are off and there is a relatively minor gain in productivity that is still money well spent….even in lean times! The full article as published in the Wall Street Journal is available here.
For comparison, below is of one of our Engineer’s desktops at work. Two 24″ monitors in use, one oriented vertically and the other horizontally allowing the simultaneous viewing of four applications. (Click image for bigger version)
