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
" It’s important to put the participant at ease and not add to their cognitive burden. "
Methodologies: Beyond the interview [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
September 4, 2024
" Rigour really is just a method; it’s knowing why you made the choices and tradeoffs you did. "
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
" If you’re a Theory X manager, you believe work is something people hate and must be controlled. "
Data Exhaust and Personal Data: Learning from Consumer Products to Enhance Enterprise UX
June 8, 2016
" Culture trumps strategy. When culture derails your best plans, you need both strategic air cover and grassroots momentum. "
Discussion
June 8, 2016
