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:
" We are guardians and stewards of that story, giving people the agency to share their experience. "
Methodological toolkit for unique research impact
March 11, 2026
" The purpose of research is paramount; it guides the choice of methods and how rigorously to apply them. "
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
" There’s this inflection point about how research work is done and what the system wants from knowledge workers. "
The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps
July 29, 2021
" Building Windows is like ordering pizza for a billion people—everyone is your user. "
Data Exhaust and Personal Data: Learning from Consumer Products to Enhance Enterprise UX
June 8, 2016
" Radical innovation isn’t the main form of change; the main form is connections, like open APIs with massive downstream effects. "
Discussion
June 8, 2016
