# Sally A. Applin, Ph.D. > Senior Qualitative Researcher: Insight, Innovation, Strategy, User Experience Research, AI and Automation Cooperation, and Sociability with Automated Systems/AI. Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/sallyaapplinphd Creative qualitative researcher/analyst able to synthesize many data points to discover insights that lead to holistic and robust products, solutions, services, and other customer experiences. I can identify underlying and unifying models of branding, product definition, behavior and group dynamics, technology adoption, process and service design, writing, and speaking. Strong background in research, product definition and corporate structure/communication, ethnography and User Experience (UE/UX/UI), and design. I understand technology adoption and can identify barriers to technology adoption and usage and thrive in environments with diverse interrelated tasks. I can easily identify UE gaps in most analog and digital processes. I can help your company: • Determine how new products can be successfully adopted into society. • Connect core technology and research to people and their needs. • Discover “brand” identity/voice, and how to enact those through products and services. • Preserve human agency in new technologies within ethics and an ethical framework. • Contribute as a team member to develop new technologies and applications. • Connect those to people via products and/or services. • Provide insight and ideation, and discover spaces for innovation. Skills include: Research, writing, synthesis and analysis, corporate strategy, ways of framing, defining and designing brands, products and/or services, user-centered design, user experience research. Qualitative Methods including online and offline observations; structured, unstructured and semi-structured interviewing; exposing and documenting knowledge transmission and exchange; questionnaire construction and analysis; triangulation of methods; participant observation; open coding, sorting, and analysis; data classification; colligating; content analysis; mini-analysis; contextual inquiry; mid-phase analysis; memoing techniques; matrix techniques; Grounded Theory; inductive examination; cutting and sorting; expression comparison; profile development; inductive reasoning; documentation review; hypothesis formation, testing, and refinement. Some experience with Natural Language Processing (NLP)/human interaction. For Bots: Consumer Insight, Strategy, Idea Generation, Strategy, Planning,Technology Transfer, Research, Experience, Product, Inquiry, Robots, IoT, Mobile, Social Media, Chatbots, Automation, Autonomous Vehicles, AI, AR, VR, XD, Ethics, XR, Public Speaking, Autonomous vehicles, AV's, , ChatGPT, Drive, Transform, Accelerate, Action, Power, Leverage, Results, Strategic Leader ## Work Experience ### Senior Principal Consultant @ Sole Proprietor Jan 1997 – Present | Silicon Valley Conceptual design, user interface architecture/design, customer experience research using ethnographic field techniques, survey design, and usability research for various clients, such as OpenAi (via Greenlight.ai), Tilt Five, CastAR, Bite Global, NIKE, Razorfish, VARStreet, Miramar Systems, FedEx, SegaSoft, Philips Design, Canal + US Technologies, Mirror Worlds Technology, Inc. (formerly LifeStreams), Oracle and others. Projects include internet telephony, on-line party planning, home theater systems, the Philips Pronto remote control, e-commerce web server software, interactive television, on-line gaming environments, wireless applications, desktop maintenance software, and document management software (Scopeware software at Mirror Worlds Technologies--the former LifeStreams project), Red Team for ChatGPT(confidential version), and the research and early packaging concept that informed the Tilt Five Special Edition Kickstarter early investors packaging. ### Op-ed/Opinion Writer on Society and Technology @ Self Employed Jan 2018 – Present Published Freelance Opinion writer for Fast Company (and previously, MIT Technology Review, Vice/Motherboard) with 36 paid publications in major online news outlets. ### Executive Member of the Board of Directors @ Executive Member of the Board of Directors - Edward H. and Rosamond B. Spicer Foundation Jan 2014 – Jan 2019 The mission of the Edward H. and Rosamond B. Spicer Foundation is to honor and further the legacy and life works of Edward H. and Rosamond Spicer in the fields of anthropology, community development and, social justice, including their lifelong interest in nature of community as both cause of, and solution to, problems in the human condition. ### Anthropological Research in Artificial Intelligence @ Samsung Electronics America Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | Silicon Valley Advanced Applied Research, Intelligence Innovation Lab (IN2).
(Consulting Contract via Samsung’s Vendor PRO Unlimited: 3 months, extended by 6 weeks.) Anthropological research and User Experience research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) lab projects. Performed research to generate unique insights and conduct qualitative user research and evaluation to define and test concepts; created documented evidence to support the validity of work (user insights & anecdotes, competitive insights, etc.), designed end-to-end user experience and interactions for the project; worked with project team to iterate on functionality and create demos; worked with project leaders to define future use cases, features and directions. ### Ph.D. @ University of Kent, Canterbury - Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing Jan 2008 – Jan 2017 | Silicon Valley Conducted 7 year longitudinal qualitative study on Silicon Valley technology makers, emerging technologies, and hobby/fan group participants. Researched human invention and adaptation of digital technologies and how these are integrated into society at large; the impact of multiple, multiplexed communications in current (synchronous) or delayed (asynchronous) time on human relationships and cooperation; how groups evolve, grow, and communicate; brand development; human relationships articulated through social networks and technologically mediated channels such as AR, VR, Mobile, Social Media, Drones, autonomous vehicles, robotics, robots and the IoT. Researched edge-case technology makers, their technologies, and the outcomes and adaptations of this technology as it moves into broader culture in the form of (largely) digital products and services. Co-developed theory of PolySocial Reality (PoSR) a model of multiple, multiplexed, synchronous and asynchronous communications and their outcomes. Expertise in underlying and unifying models of branding, behavior and group dynamics, and technology adoption. Academic and Commercial Participation to date: 20 Peer-Reviewed Written Publications 6 Book Chapters (2 forthcoming) 15 Peer-Reviewed Academic Oral Papers 1 Academic Book Review 1 Academic Poster 3 Editorially Reviewed Academic Publications 2 Policy Contributions 10 Other Talks and Panel Participation 36 Paid Commercial Articles 31 Other Writing Contributions Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants 1 Ethicomp Scholarship (2021) 1 IEEE Communications Scholarship (2015) 3 National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellowships (2013, 2012, 2011) 4 National Science Foundation (NSF) Travel Grants (2019, 2015, 2013, 2010) 2 National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship (2011, 2015) 1 International Communications Association (ICA) Travel Grant (2012)
 1 Edward H. and Rosamond B. Spicer Award. Travel Grant (2012) 1 Essay Award Scholarship (Axon/TASER International) (2015) ### Senior Consultant (Full time employee) @ GVO, Inc. Jan 1996 – Jan 1997 | Palo Alto, CA GVO was a product design and definition consulting group. Experience included proposal writing, contract writing, creative brainstorming, service design, ethnographic research, product design, interaction design, focus group moderation and content management of projects for the American Heart Association (AHA), Canon Information Systems, General Mills (product definition research for Go-gurt), Hewlett Packard, Intel, Sprint, and other leading Fortune 500 companies. Deliverables included research reports, presentations, documents, software interface design and product design recommendations. ### User Interface Designer @ Portal Software, Inc. Jan 1994 – Jan 1996 | Cupertino, CA Designed the interface for Portal's first Infranet Admin Manager Tool Suite. Provided interface, icon and graphic design for Portal's PC and Macintosh partners. Additional projects included designing an early web prototype featured in Disney's Epcot "Home of the Future," and developing corporate identity design standards for marketing materials and technical documents. ### User Interface Designer @ Apple Computer Jan 1991 – Jan 1994 | Cupertino, CA Personal Interactive Electronics (P.I.E.) Division/Newton Division. User Interface Designer WALT: (P.I.E. Division) Designed screen phone prototypes for a Bell South ‘home and small business’ three-month trial. Conducted ethnographic style fieldwork, studied usage patterns and consumer responses, compiled and presented results. Newton: UX/UE/UI Designed concepts to integrate wireless technology into the Newton OS. Apple Advanced Technology Group (ATG), 3D Graphics Group. User Interface Designer UX/UE/UI design, graphic design, conceptual UI, artwork, text, some initial HyperTalk scripting on the team that developed The Virtual Museum, which was one of the first QuickTime™ content CD-ROM discs, and first virtual museums. It was featured at SIGGRAPH 1992, CHI 1992, MacWorld, Tokyo 1992, Demo ’92, Palm Springs, CA; and Supercomm, Atlanta, GA in 1993. ### Project Manager/Asst. Art Director @ Hyperpro Jan 1990 – Jan 1990 | Sunnyvale, CA Project, production, budget, design, content and staff management on various projects including an early Pacific Bell Interactive Smart Yellow Pages prototype and the Warner New Media multimedia keynote of the 1990 Digital World Conference. ### Exhibit Writer/Research/Project Coordinator, Hong Kong Science Museum @ West Office Exhibition Design Jan 1987 – Jan 1990 | San Francisco Office Research and writing of exhibit content for the Hong Kong Science Museum (HKSM), a 500 exhibit interactive science and technology museum. ## Education ### Ph.D. in Applied Anthropology (Working with the Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing) University of Kent ### MPS in NYU - ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program, Tisch School of the Arts) New York University ### BA in Conceptual Design, Department of Fine Art San Francisco State University ### MBA Courses in Management and Marketing San José State University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sally-a-applin-ph-d-615164 - Portfolio: http://www.sally.com - Portfolio: http://www.PoSR.org --- Source: https://flows.cv/sallyaapplinphd JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/sallyaapplinphd/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13