It sounds like the people in the bullpen were defining the work products for the engineers. If your current "customer" (for lack of a better word) is used to working in a bullpen, you had better be in the bullpen as well, if you want to get anything done.
Lately, I've been doing two sorts of things: short turn-around bug-fixes and enhancements and longer-term major development. If I try to do the short turn-around work without being in the same room as the customer/tester/what-have-you non-developer, the latency of email/IM means less work gets done, which is frustrating for both sides. On the other hand, if I try to do major development while in the same room as the other people, my work simply won't get done due to the interruptions and general inability to concentrate.
Lately, I've been doing two sorts of things: short turn-around bug-fixes and enhancements and longer-term major development. If I try to do the short turn-around work without being in the same room as the customer/tester/what-have-you non-developer, the latency of email/IM means less work gets done, which is frustrating for both sides. On the other hand, if I try to do major development while in the same room as the other people, my work simply won't get done due to the interruptions and general inability to concentrate.