OFFICE WORK

Office work has grown explosively in this century. Once a small occupational category, office work now includes about 40 percent of the American work force. Yet office work continues to be “the familiar unknown”: we worry about its growing size, we are concerned about its productivity, and we design systems to improve it; but our real knowledge of what goes on in the office is very shallow. This article discusses only a few of the many subtle facets of office work that vendors and users must understand to meet the needs of this attractive, but difficult market.