Introduction
Under the guidance of Professors David Kirsh and Aaron Cicourel, I participated in UC San Diego's Cognitive Science Honors Program where I experienced all aspects of leading a research project. In my Honors Research Project entitled “Understanding Office Ecologies,” I collaborated with Shailendra Rao to establish the empirical factors necessary to place our office worker subjects on a continuum from “Neat” to “Scruffy.”

Background
In order to better understand offices and how people inhabit those spaces, we conducted with a literature review starting with David Kirsh's "Context of Work" and Thomas Malone's "How Do People Organize Their Desks?" These two works proved to be invaluable when trying to enumerate the many types of possible things that can occur in an office.

Methods
After long discussions and iterations of how to collect the most useful data, we decided that videotaping our participants would prove to be the most beneficial. Before videotaping though, we conducted an office tour. This was a preliminary contextual interview of the participant in her office that would give us insight into the intricate details of her daily work. We then proceeded to setup 2 video cameras on the ceilings of our participants' office, one wide angle lens to record the global occurrences of the office, and one camera to record what happens in the "high traffic" areas of their desks. Each participant was recorded 5 times spread out over 2 weeks to give them a break from being recorded. After each recording, we interviewed the participant about that day's work to help us undertsand what occurred in the video for that day.

Data Analysis
In order to provide more backup for our conclusions, we wanted to support our qualitative findings (gathered from interviews and observations) with a quantitative measure. In order to get quantitative data, we had to enumerate all of the possible actions that can occur in an office. These consisted of different types of filing, different types of piling, trashing, number of interruptions, number of layers created, and more. We then had to sift through all 80 hours of recorded video and count each and every time one of those actions happens. From these numbers, we initiated the creation of a measurable distinction between “Neats” and “Scruffies.”

Results
We noticed that a “Neat” files away paper and accesses files significantly more times than a “Scruffy.” On the other hand, the number of times a “Scruffy” engages in an activity of piling such as creating a pile, moving a pile, or adding a layer greatly exceeds that of a “Neat.” In fact, our "Neat" participant avoided adding layers and subsequently created new surfaces for a pile, such as her lap. Our "Scruffy" also used sticky notes significantly more often than our "Neat." Lastly, on average our "Scruffy" had twice as many tasks open at once than out "Neat."

Conclusion
To conclude, our project has just scratched the surface of the complex world of the office dweller with our Neat and Scruffy distinction. Our pilot study has just begun to provide some of the real world studies of people working in their office environment that are necessary to develop the user-centered digital supports that advance us closer to our goal of a Context Aware Office. Our methodology as well as our suggestions for future work will undoubtedly bring us closer to enhanced office workspaces that will improve the everyday lives of all office dwellers irrespective of their position on the Neat and Scruffy scale.