Sam Ladner (she/her) is a sociologist, researcher, and student of productivity studying the future of work.

Sam is best known for her bookPractical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector. This book has become a staple for design research and innovation courses, as well as a go-to handbook for applied ethnographers. It is used regularly in design, research, user experience, business and social science graduate-level classes. She has also authored Mixed Methods and has just finished third book called Practical Foresight. The book will be available in 2026. She is an adjunct professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. 

Publications (2012-present)

  • Neither An Axe Nor A Tree: The Applied Ethnographer’s Role in Future Thinking Inside the Modern Corporation

    Ladner, S. (forthcoming.).

    In J. Spears & C. Miller (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Practicing Anthropology & Design. Routledge.

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  • Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in The Private Sector

    Ladner, S. (2014)

    Routledge: London, UK.

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  • Mixed Methods: A Short Guide to Applied Mixed Methods Research.

    Ladner, S. (2019)

    Amazon Kindle Publishing: Seattle.

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  • Little Dramas Everywhere: Using Ethnography to Anticipate the Future

    English-Lueck, J. A., Ladner, S., & Sherman, J. (2021).

    Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference Proceedings, 2021(1), 7–14.

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  • Managing The Private Sector Research Project.

    Ladner, S. (2015)

    Dingwall, R. (ed.). Sage  Handbook of Research Management. Sage: London.

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  • Bodywork And Its Role in Productivity

    Ladner, S. (2014)

    Paper presented at Ethnographic in Praxis Industry Conference. Fordham University: September 1-2.

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  • Ethnographic Temporality: Using Time-based Data in Product Renewal

    Ladner, S. (2012)

    Paper presented at the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference. Savannah: Oct. 12-13.

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  • “Why are you always on your phone?” The use of smartphones to manage work and domestic responsibilities

    Ladner, S., Rogers, S., Middleton, C. (2012)

    Paper presented at the Women and Families Researchers’ Network Conference. New York City: June 12-14.

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  • Digital Time: Smartphones, Digital Calendars, and Temporal Transformation

    Ladner, S. (2012)

    Paper presented at the Canadian Communication Association Annual Meeting. University of Waterloo. Waterloo, Ontario. May 26 – June 7, 2012.

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  • Changing Time: Digital calendars, smartphones and temporal transformation

    Ladner, S. (2012)

    Paper presented at the Theorizing The Web Conference. University of Maryland. April 12-14.

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Publications (2010 – 2008)

  • Qualitative Research and Innovation

    Qualitative research is not generally considered "real" research, and this has terrible implications for innovation. Companies' thirst for operational effectiveness begs for quantitative data. But quantitative data does not and cannot form strategy. Qual data are a key ingredient to strategy, or the development of new and differentiated products

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  • The Essence of Interaction Design: A Call for Consistency

    Ladner, S. (2010)

    Interactions: An ACM Journal. March/April.

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  • Designing Better Management: A Call For Socio-Cultural Frames In Design Thinking

    Ladner, S. (2009)

    Paper presented at the Design+Management Conference. Weatherhead School of Management: Cleveland.

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  • ‘Agency Time’: A case study of the postindustrial timescape and its impact on the domestic sphere

    Ladner, S. (2009)

    Time and Society. Vol 18. No. 2/3.

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  • Laptops in the Living Room: Mobile Technologies and the Divide Between Private time and Work Time

    Ladner, S. (2008)

    Canadian Journal of Communication. Vol. 33. No. 3. October 2008.

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  • Watching the Web: An Ontological and Epistemological Critique of Web-traffic Measurement

    Ladner, S. (2008)

    In Jansen, J., Spink, A. and Taksa, I. (eds.). Handbook of Log File Analysis. Idea Group: Hersey Pennsylvannia.

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About Sam

She specializes in ethnographic research, design thinking, and strategic foresight for product design. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and has driven innovative products and smartphone apps from major technology companies.

She recently retired from her role as the first Senior Principal Researcher at Workday. Sam has a history of firsts — she was also the first Principal Researcher at Amazon. Prior to that, she worked in various roles at Microsoft. She is a popular public speaker at leading design and research conferences.

She holds a PhD in sociology from York University, served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Toronto Metropolitan University. She is currently an adjunct professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto where she teaches Leading Innovation in the Strategic Foresight graduate program.

She offers custom workshops and training on qual, quant, and mixed research methods, as well as strategic foresight. Contact her via LinkedIn for more details.