Sam Ladner
Sociologist and Researcher
Sam Ladner (she/her) is a sociologist who helps teams innovate, design, and learn. She is the author of Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in The Private Sector and Mixed Methods: A Short Guide to Applied Mixed Methods Research. She has worked on dozens of software projects at Microsoft, Amazon, and many other client companies. She recently retired from Workday, an enterprise software company, as a Senior Principal Researcher studying the future of work. She received her PhD in sociology from York University and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rosenverse talks by Sam:
" Stories don’t work by extraction, people tell them and you listen. "
Methodological toolkit for unique research impact
March 11, 2026
" If you don’t have researchers to shadow, lean on communities, data scientists, or industry organizations. "
Methodologies: Beyond the interview [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
September 4, 2024
" I am swimming in a sea of information, like a little fish, and eating all the stuff. "
How Research Can Drive Strategic Foresight
March 9, 2022
" Our standard research frameworks and tools are often inadequate for addressing complex social problems. "
The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps
July 29, 2021
" One in four American workers actively distrust their employers, believing they lie regularly. "
Data Exhaust and Personal Data: Learning from Consumer Products to Enhance Enterprise UX
June 8, 2016
" Users sometimes enjoy the complexity of old systems because mastery grants them elite social status internally. "
Discussion
June 8, 2016