Amy Goldmacher LLC

I coach aspiring nonfiction authors to write killer proposals that attract agents & publishers. I bring my expertise in the art and science of pattern-finding, sense-making, and structuring information to the book you want to write. I make the process manageable - and enjoyable. These are my superpowers.

Visit amygoldmacher.com

Book Coach & Author

I help you understand who you are designing for. I provide ethnographic and qualitative user research to help teams and organizations design better products, services and experiences. I'm available for local, national and international project work.

Anthropologist and Research Consultant

The Understanding Group, LLC

The Understanding Group helps create delightful user experiences by bringing order to complicated websites. The Understanding Group solves complex problems with information architecture - and good information architecture builds from a solid understanding of real people's experiences in the real world, which comes from user research. I provide research design, execution and analysis expertise so that order is created based on actual human needs.

User Researcher and Anthropologist

Wayne State University

Applied Anthropology
Taught graduate level course on the application of anthropological concepts and methods to contemporary issues of public concern. The course examines topics including the history of anthropologists working in applied settings, the relationship between anthropological theory and practice, professional ethics, job opportunities for applied anthropologists, the skills needed to obtain jobs as anthropological practitioners, and anthropological career development.

American Business Culture and American Business Communication
Developed and taught graduate-level modules on American Business Culture and Communication for Chinese graduate students interning in the US. The modules are designed to enhance knowledge of American culture and workplace practices while supplementing their internship‐based immersion experience. To enhance the immersion experience, students will engage with interactive learning, an educational approach that contrasts traditional Chinese educational practices. Students will be able to apply lessons learned to their workplace performance.	
  	
Introduction to Business Anthropology
Developed and taught an online course introducing students to important concepts in anthropology such as culture, cultural relativism, and holism. The course also explores different topics within business anthropology. The main goals of this course are to provide students with an understanding of how anthropological methods and concepts are applied in businesses and organizations. In particular, the concept of culture is important for understanding every aspect of business from employee relations to corporate mergers to conducting business internationally. Additionally, understanding cultural differences and respecting other beliefs, practices, and systems is essential for success in the increasingly global and competitive marketplace.

Adjunct Faculty

I provided qualitative and ethnographic assistance for engineering project teams at Ford Motor Company and Visteon Corporation. My participation on multiple year-long projects resulted in:
- Recommendations for new communication, training and incentive plans for all employee levels based on assessment and analysis of scrap process behaviors to reduce costs in plants
- Transition and implementation plans to effectively diffuse cost-saving practices based on assessment and analysis of current corporate culture and behaviors through observations and interviews 
- Design criteria and implementation strategy recommendations for process certification based on interviews and observations
- Change recommendations for a management operating system to create behaviors that produce cost savings based on observations and analysis of plant processes and behaviors

Graduate Research Assistant

LUMA Institute

LUMA Institute is an education company that teaches people how to be more innovative. Through a hands-on curriculum, I helped professionals in small and large organizations develop competency in and apply the discipline of Human-Centered Design to create new value and drive sustainable growth.

• Teach LUMA's Human-Centered Design training courses and Deep Dives
• Lead discussions and exercises focused on innovation
• Develop and teach new curricula, such as a Deep Dive workshop centered around ethnographic design research

Certified Instructor

Ducker Worldwide

I contributed to the execution of B2C and B2B client projects from $10,000 - $400,000. I
defined the scope of client engagements, wrote proposals, conducted on-site observations and interviews, performed qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, wrote reports and presented actionable results directly to clients including Pfizer, Ingersoll-Rand, Visteon, GE and other Fortune 500 and 1000 companies.

Senior Market Analyst

SmartRevenue

I conducted in-store interviews, shopalongs and intercepts, integrating individual and group data for shopper trends and insights for Nestle.

Ethnographer

IDEO

As part of a cross-functional design team, I led research and analysis for an automotive design and branding innovation project for Lincoln, conducting 21 in-home ethnographic interviews in Florida, New York and California, leading to the creation of design principles for the 2014 Lincoln MKC Crossover vehicle.

Human Factors Practitioner

As part of an interdisciplinary design research team, I conducted 27 ethnographic interviews in Washington, New York and California and one collaborative design workshop, leading to the creation of design principles for the development of Microsoft Vine.net

Human Factors Specialist

Pearson Education

As a sales representative, I achieved 114% of my sales goal for 2001 by growing my customer base. As a marketing coordinator, I achieved a 35% increase in retail sales in 1999 ($2.4M) by increasing marketing exposure and I developed a retail marketing campaign for Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition.

Allyn & Bacon / Longman

I coach aspiring nonfiction authors to write killer book proposals that attract agent and publisher interest.

My process has led writers to:
- Win awards for their proposals, 
- Complete their manuscripts, 
- Query agents and presses, 
- Get agent representation,
- Receive book deals, 
- And get published. 

I’ve spent more than 20 years in information transformation. In the publishing industry, I shepherded authors to publication and increased their exposure and sales. I edited colleagues’ work and published my own in academia and after. As a practicing anthropologist working in information architecture (IA), user experience (UX), and design, I collected, analyzed, and synthesized data so that others could solve business problems with it. I bring my expertise in the art and science of pattern-finding, sense-making, and structuring information to the book you want to write. I make the process manageable - and enjoyable. These are my superpowers.

I bring all my skill sets to you and the book you want to write, customized to your strengths, challenges, needs, and goals. You bring your passion and your willingness to work. Let’s make your book happen.

I invite you to get in touch at www.amygoldmacher.com/contact. 

Do you wonder if your book IDEA could be a BOOK? I’ll send you two questions that will help you find out: www.amygoldmacher.com/newsletter

Three writers and I are one month away from our cruise writing retreat aboard the QM2! We’re having our pre-cruise meetings to create the action plans for our week together. I thought I’d give you the same prep questions I’m giving them. (You could change the timeframe from “week” to whatever timeframe you’re working in, whether it’s a day, a weekend, a month, etc.)

Let’s start with the end in mind: How do you want to feel at the end of the week?

Let’s work backwards from there: What will make you feel that way?

Inspired by Anne-Laure Le Cunff, PhD's Tiny Experiments, I wanted to take the pressure off setting a goal that was tied to outcomes that may not be feasible and instead focus on doing good work during the time we have together. She says to focus on output, which you have control over, versus outcomes which are out of your control. On page 69, she describes output as “success from deliberate experimentation” and outcomes as “success from fixed destination.” I find the concept of experimentation more expansive and freeing as opposed to a destination I might not reach despite my best efforts.

I recommend you read her book for “how to live freely in a goal-obsessed world,” as the subtitle promises.

More on the blog at https://lnkd.in/eEquSprG

Amy Goldmacher, PhD

Author of Terms & Conditions: A Glossary (Stanchion Books Oct. 2026). Write your killer nonfiction book proposal with me that attracts the attention of agents and publishers! Free resources at amygoldmacher.com/freebies

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