Nothing drives theory better than a good applied problem.
We use many behavioral science methodologies, from field observations, to experiment, to eye-tracking, to formal cognitive modeling. My interdisciplinary background has been directly relevant to my work. As an undergraduate, I was a physics major at Oberlin College. Later, I briefly was the director of Oberlin's computer center. After hearing Herbert Simon give a talk, I decided to go to Carnegie Mellon University to study with Allen Newell and Simon in the Systems and Communications program, part of which was based in psychology.