Summary
During this interview, we'll hear how Senior UX Researcher, Nicole Wright has helped HoneyBook–a client management software company–democratize research, build a better product that led to a recent $1B valuation. Nicole will share her best practices, lessons learned and her vision for the future.
Key Insights
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Democratizing research fosters stronger connections between teams beyond product and design, including marketing, support, education, and CSMs.
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Involving new hires from all departments in user calls helps embed customer empathy early and strengthens company-wide research adoption.
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A centralized research repository incorporating data from multiple sources (user sessions, support chats, CEO emails) enables broader and deeper insight usage.
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Aligning taxonomies and tags across teams dramatically improves the efficiency of searching and using research findings.
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Building and scaling research infrastructure requires significant upfront effort, often consuming nearly half of a researcher’s time, especially when starting solo.
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Sharing research regularly through brief daily meetings and Slack updates maintains visibility and engagement across the company.
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Providing tiered access levels to research data balances transparency with control, ensuring quality and ethical use.
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Continual iteration on research processes and tooling based on pain points fosters sustainable growth and better alignment among researchers.
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Integrating research with education teams creates opportunities to embed product knowledge in training materials and customer support.
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Democratizing research is a cultural challenge requiring patience, relationship building, and addressing team-specific needs rather than only deploying tools.
Notable Quotes
"Research is not just about building better products, it’s about building a great company and stronger internal bonds."
"By democratizing research, we connect teams like marketing, support, and education, so everyone can do more in their roles."
"We do a daily seven-by-seven meeting, and research has a monthly slot to share user insights with the whole company."
"Involving new hires in user calls helps them get to know our members and understand their pains and loves firsthand."
"The research repository includes not just sessions but also feedback from support chats and CEO emails, all in one accessible place."
"Adoption doesn’t happen overnight, but by training key stakeholders first, usage grows organically until it becomes part of onboarding."
"When teams feel their feedback is heard and connected to product decisions, it reduces frustration and builds trust."
"Aligning taxonomies was a big undertaking, but it made searching and sharing insights across teams far more effective."
"About 40 to 50 percent of my time goes to setting up and fine-tuning systems and strategy as the research team grows."
"Democratizing research isn’t just about tools; it’s a cultural change that requires conversations and relationships."
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