The User Research Democratization Playbook: Part Three

Part 3: Scaling research without sacrificing rigor

👋🏻 Hi, this is Nikki with a paid article from the User Research Strategist. I share content that helps you move toward a more strategic role as a researcher, measuring your ROI, and delivering impactful insights that move business decisions.

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This is a series on user research democratization — since this is a tough topic, there was way too much for one article. I will be writing this series and posting it over the next weeks and will edit this as I add to the series so you can easily navigate the different parts.

• Part 1: The Complex Landscape of Research Democratization (Free)

• Part 2: A Framework for Responsible Research Democratization (Paid)

• Part 4: Responding to UXR Democratization Issues (Free)

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Scaling Research Without Sacrificing Rigor

Research democratization is not a one-size-fits-all solution. What works for one company might fail in another due to differences in team size, research maturity, leadership buy-in, and decision-making culture. Instead of adopting a democratization model blindly, your first step should be research on your own organization.

This chapter has outlined multiple approaches to research democratization, from fully decentralized models to research-led approaches with controlled access. But choosing the right approach requires an honest evaluation of your company’s unique needs, challenges, and research maturity.

This is where your own research skills come into play. Before deciding how to scale research within your organization, take time to assess your current environment, define your goals, and determine the level of structure and oversight required to ensure success.

Assess the Current State of Research in Your Organization

To scale research without sacrificing rigor, you first need a comprehensive understanding of how research currently functions within your organization. Without a clear baseline, democratization efforts risk becoming chaotic, misaligned, or ineffective. Don’t skip this step! We do this:

• To identify exactly who is conducting research.

• To understand the types of research being performed.

• To find bottlenecks preventing effective research.

• To gauge how leadership values research.

• To document how research insights are shared and consumed.

Let’s dive into how to assess the current state.

1. Map Out Current Research Roles and Responsibilities

Objective: Clarify exactly who is conducting research, formally or informally.

Steps:

1. List all individuals conducting research regularly, including:

   1. Trained researchers (User Researchers, UX Researchers, etc.)

   2. Designers

   3. Product Managers

   4. Marketers

   5. Engineers

   6. Customer Support or Success Teams

2. Determine the frequency with which each role performs research:

   1. Is research part of their job description, or are they doing it informally?

   2. How frequently do non-researchers independently initiate studies?

2. Inventory Types of Research Currently Conducted

Objective: Understand what research methods are being used and by whom.

Steps:

1. Catalog recent research projects over the last 3-6 months.

2. Categorize these by research type:

   1. Usability testing (quick tests, prototype evaluations)

   2. Surveys (customer satisfaction, feedback)

   3. Interviews (generative or evaluative)

   4. Analytics reviews (product usage analysis)

   5. Generative or strategic studies (exploratory, opportunity-focused research)

3. Highlight gaps between desired and actual types of research performed.

3. Identify Research Bottlenecks and Pain Points

Objective: Determine the obstacles preventing effective and timely research.

Steps:

1. Conduct stakeholder interviews or surveys asking:

   1. “How often are you delayed by waiting for research results?”

   2. “Have you ever skipped research due to lack of availability?”

   3. “How often do you have to conduct research on your own without support?”

2. Quantify these pain points if possible (“70% of Product Managers skip research due to long wait times”).

Example survey question (with rating scale):

“On a scale of 1-5, how often do you find research availability a blocker for timely decisions?”

(1 = Never, 5 = Always)

Example finding:

“80% of Product Managers rated research availability as 4 or higher, indicating significant delays.”

4. Evaluate Leadership’s Attitude Toward Research

Objective: Assess how research is valued by leaders and decision-makers.

Steps:

1. Conduct targeted leadership interviews or distribute a leadership-focused survey. Ask clear, pointed questions such as:

   1. “Do you consider research essential, helpful, or optional for decision-making?”

   2. “Can you provide examples of recent decisions influenced by research?”

   3. “How much are you willing to invest in research resources and training?”

2. Analyze responses to determine if leadership views research as:

   1. A critical component

   2. An occasional input

   3. A luxury or nice-to-have

Example question:

“Describe a recent instance where research directly impacted your decision-making.”

Example finding:

“We delayed launching the new pricing model until the UX team conducted surveys—research is crucial for big decisions like pricing.”

5. Assess How Research Insights Are Currently Shared and Stored

Objective: Understand how research insights are documented and made accessible.

Steps:

1. Identify all locations where research insights currently live:

   1. Centralized (Dovetail, Airtable, Confluence)

   2. Decentralized (Google Drive folders, Slack, emails)

2. Check how consistently insights are documented:

   1. Do insights consistently include the research question, methods, results, and actionable recommendations?

3. Evaluate accessibility and discoverability:

   1. Are insights easy to find by people across the organization?

   2. How often do stakeholders complain about not finding past research?

6. Summarize Your Findings Into a Clear Research Landscape Report

Objective: Create a succinct, actionable summary highlighting gaps, strengths, and weaknesses.

Suggested structure:

• Current research roles:

  • Who’s conducting research (trained vs. informal)?

• Research types in use:

  • Methods commonly and rarely used.

• Identified bottlenecks:

  • Delays in conducting or accessing research.

• Leadership alignment:

  • How critical is research viewed by leadership?

• Research documentation & sharing:

  • Current status of knowledge management and accessibility.

Example:

“Research is primarily done by one full-time UX researcher, supported informally by designers and PMs. Usability testing is frequent, but generative research is nonexistent. Teams often skip research due to delays, and leadership sees it as important but secondary. Documentation is decentralized, causing frequent duplication and wasted efforts.”

Define Your Organization’s Research Needs and Risks

Not all organizations require the same level of research rigor, nor can they accept the same level of risk. Clearly understanding your organization’s specific needs and risk tolerance is essential to creating a democratization model that is both effective and safe. This step is necessary to:

• Ensure the democratization model aligns with your organization’s specific risk and rigor requirements.

• Prevent costly errors resulting from inappropriate levels of oversight.

• Leverage existing skills within your organization efficiently.

1. Determine the Level of Research Rigor Required

Research rigor refers to the quality standards and methodological thoroughness expected within your organization.

Steps:

1. Classify decision types and their consequences. List recent or upcoming decisions influenced by research. Categorize these by the impact and risks involved.

2. Categorize the decisions into tiers of required rigor:

   1. High-Rigor: Decisions have significant financial, legal, or safety implications.

   2. Medium-Rigor: Decisions impact user satisfaction, retention, or moderate financial outcomes.

   3. Low-Rigor: Decisions are incremental, reversible, or experimental.

Prompting questions:

• What kinds of decisions does your organization regularly face?

• What is the worst-case scenario if research for these decisions is inaccurate or incomplete?

• Can you group your decisions into categories based on the potential risk or consequence?

2. Clarify Your Organization’s Risk Tolerance

Risk tolerance defines how much uncertainty or potential harm your organization is willing to accept as it expands research responsibilities.

Steps:

1. Conduct internal interviews or workshops to gauge comfort with risk:

   1. Ask stakeholders to rate their tolerance for potential research errors (low, medium, high).

   2. Discuss potential consequences openly and document responses.

2. Create a risk assessment matrix to visualize tolerance clearly.

Prompting questions:

• How comfortable is leadership with research findings from non-researchers driving key decisions?

• What types of errors or biases can your organization afford, and what is completely unacceptable?

• Which areas (finance, regulatory, health) require the strictest oversight, and which can afford some flexibility?

3. Evaluate Existing Research Skills in Your Organization

Understanding the research skills and experience within your organization is essential for deciding how much oversight or training you’ll need to implement.

Steps:

1. Create an inventory of current research skills among non-research stakeholders.

2. Use surveys or interviews to capture their research experience.

3. Categorize teams by experience (High, Medium, Low).

4. Assess the gap between current skills and desired research rigor levels.

Prompting questions:

• Do your product or design teams have formal research training?

• Are there team members regularly conducting interviews, usability tests, or surveys without oversight?

• Which teams consistently produce reliable insights, and which require significant researcher intervention?

Identify the Right Democratization Model for Your Context

Selecting the appropriate democratization model is critical. The right model enables your organization to effectively scale research without sacrificing quality, credibility, or reliability. Using insights gathered from assessing your current state (Step 1) and defining your organization’s research needs and risks (Step 2), follow the guide below to pinpoint exactly which model aligns best with your organization’s unique circumstances.

If your organization has a small research team supporting many product teams: