Summary
Our team has studied research democratization efforts of many shapes and sizes. This session focuses on what we've learned by approaching democratization from the perspective of the designers, product managers, marketers, and other non-researchers involved.
Key Insights
-
•
Democratization programs vary widely in training intensity, approval processes, and methodology restrictions depending on organizational needs.
-
•
Non-researchers often resist democratization programs because they perceive them as additional work on top of busy schedules.
-
•
Only a small subset of highly motivated power users, like Tony, actively engage deeply with democratization initiatives initially.
-
•
Balancing safeguards with inspiration—such as celebrating imperfect attempts—helps non-researchers learn without fear of mistakes.
-
•
Motivation is as critical as ability and opportunity in driving behavior change to adopt research practices among non-researchers.
-
•
The most successful democratization efforts align training with the non-researcher's immediate research needs, leveraging their peak motivation.
-
•
Customer empathy programs succeed better when interactions are highly relevant to non-researchers’ current work challenges.
-
•
Initial engagement in democratization initiatives tends to be low, with most users having minimal touchpoints early on.
-
•
Measuring success should go beyond activity counts to connecting research efforts to concrete business impact and ROI over time.
-
•
Building a democratization program requires substantial upfront effort including executive buy-in, training facilitation, and promotion.
Notable Quotes
"Democratization is becoming more of an umbrella term with different customers using it to mean very different things."
"Non-researchers work 12 hours a day and they don’t want to work 12 and a half hours a day."
"Resistance to adding to their workload is a huge factor why engagement is often low when these programs roll out."
"Give non-researchers some applause when they run a test even if it's not perfect, then help them do it differently next time."
"Aim for a healthy balance of safeguards and inspiration to protect customers but keep non-researchers motivated."
"We can over-index on capability and opportunity, but motivation is critical for non-researchers to engage in research activities."
"The most successful programs meet stakeholders at their highest point of motivation to participate in research."
"Non-researchers found traction when conversations were hyper relevant to what they were working on."
"Not everyone is necessarily asking to be empowered or ready to be empowered when launching these programs."
"Over the long term, democratization programs can even out workloads and reduce pressure on research teams."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"You could never do all this marketing alone—it’s all hands on deck, relying on different strengths and creativity across the team."
Molly FargotsteinMultipurpose Communication & UX Research Marketing
September 12, 2019
"Design operators must create scaffolding that shapes design practice, not just produce deliverables."
Dave MaloufClosing Keynote: Amplify. Not Optimize.
October 24, 2019
"Thinking is something that happens as the brain interacts with the world, not just inside our heads."
Jorge ArangoAI as Thought Partner: How to Use LLMs to Transform Your Notes (3rd of 3 seminars)
May 3, 2024
"The AI is looking through material and that material’s changing every day."
Daniel J. RosenbergDesigning with and for Artificial Intelligence
August 11, 2022
"Accessibility is innovation and this statement could potentially be some unchecked ableism."
Alexis LucioScaling Accessibility Through Design Systems
June 9, 2022
"You want to write a brief for each initiative and confirm it with your stakeholders before putting a team together to execute it."
Peter BoersmaHow to Define and Maintain a DesignOps Roadmap
October 3, 2023
"Making the invisible visible makes things move forward and create alignments."
Ben Reason Aline Horta Majid Iqbal Fabiano LeoniMaking the system visible: The fastest path to better decisions
November 20, 2025
"We devote 30 to 50 percent of the project time just on evaluation with real users and experts to ensure quality and safety."
Peter Van Dijck Louis RosenfeldCoffee with Lou #4: Taking a Peek Under the Rosenbot's Hood
June 14, 2024
"AI-driven results are often 30 to 50 percent hallucinogenic—meaning not real—so we need to be cautious about overreliance."
Taylor KlassmanShaping the Next Era of UX Research: Collaborative Forum
March 11, 2025
