Sam Alper • Bold Insight

Sam Alper

Director

Sam’s background in human factors and industrial engineering has led to a systematic approach to problem solving, which considers both the technical and social aspects of challenges, that he applies to each project. He spent the better part of a decade investigating accidents from a human factors perspective, presenting to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and being deposed as an expert witness. Sam has a deep research background and has developed and implemented qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Sam as a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

Bold facts

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Sam

Something unique about you summed up in one sentence

Pretty sure I’m the only one in the office who can juggle 5 objects.

Your favorite part of working at Bold Insight

The goal of our work is to make life easier and/or better for people. While maintaining scientific rigor, we make sure to have fun. From top to bottom, each team member wants each of the others to succeed.

In your spare time you would absolutely do this:

I already play hockey. But given spare time in the right location, I’d love to do more SCUBA.

How long have you been in the UX field?

Tangentially, for almost a decade. As a primary focus, for over three years.

Your favorite city in the world is...and why?

Madison, WI. After going to school there for 10 years, I fell in love with the city.

Your ultimate celebrity dinner party guest list would include:

The Dalai Lama for his presence in the moment and his joyfulness. Pope Francis for his thoughts on culture change and helping a group adapt to a new environment. Barack Obama for his ability to stay on message through adversity, even when it put him at a disadvantage. Ellen DeGeneres for her ability to do good with humor.

Long-term personal or professional goal?

I’m curious about whether, and how, we could apply user experience principles to jobs– I think there’s potential to do a lot of good by improving peoples’ experiences at work.

Any other facts to share?

I’m an expert! At least, I have testified as an expert witness in the field of human factors and no one has disputed my expertise.

Read Sam's bold insights

March 24, 2020

Is FMEA inadequate for human factors analyses?

A "traditional" risk assessment does not meet the needs of FDA-required human factors analyses.

10 tips to better support a11y participants during user research

Jan 25, 2023

As UX researchers, we play a critical role to ensure all research participants feel comfortable and respected. For those in the accessibility (a11y) community, we are cognizant of the variety of accommodations that may need to be employed throughout the participant...

5 tips for remote UX research with the A11y community

Nov 14, 2022

Approximately 15% of the global population identifies as having a disability. Given that so many individuals have accessibility needs, it is essential that we, as user experience (UX) researchers, design products with the accessibility (a11y) community in mind, and...

Accessibility and medical human factors research: 3 questions to ask your product teams

May 4, 2022

One of the best parts of my job as a human factors researcher is interacting with participants during studies. Early medical device studies generally have bare-bones definitions of intended user groups that become more defined throughout the product development life...

Six unique benefits of rolling research

Feb 28, 2022

Our team has seen an increase in requests for rolling research to support product design across multiple industries, from consumer goods to healthcare. We’ve seen firsthand the benefits of executing this model of research and why it can revolutionize the way product...