Democratizing Research at HoneyBook
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
-
•
Democratizing research improves not just product quality but also internal collaboration and company culture.
-
•
Building a centralized research repository accessible across teams drives greater research adoption and shared insights.
-
•
Standardized taxonomies across teams are critical to efficiently organize and retrieve research insights.
-
•
Involving new hires company-wide in user calls accelerates empathy and user understanding from day one.
-
•
Adoption of research tools and processes takes time and requires incremental wins and ongoing training.
-
•
Research insights shared in daily briefings and Slack channels keep user needs visible across the organization.
-
•
Cross-functional partnership, including support, CS, marketing, and education, amplifies the impact of research.
-
•
Balancing research execution and process building is essential, especially for solo researchers growing to teams.
-
•
Having different access levels to the repository manages data quality, relevance, and ethical concerns.
-
•
Embedding research findings into education and support content helps solve user problems more holistically.
Notable Quotes
"Research isn’t just about building a great product; it’s about having a great company and stronger internal bonds."
"When new hires talk directly with users, they connect with the product in a way that makes the research insights stick."
"We had 1600 tags in our system at one point, which was overwhelming, so getting taxonomies aligned was a game changer."
"Adoption doesn’t happen overnight; it’s all about patience and incremental wins."
"It’s funny to talk about being a research team of one, managing five product teams, and how the repository helped focus research."
"We have a daily seven-by-seven meeting where research shares insights monthly, and sometimes more often depending on projects."
"By understanding other teams’ pain points, you can show them how democratized research can help solve their challenges."
"Most people have read-only access to summaries, while power users have broader access to dive deeper into research data."
"Having engineers watch research clips often leads to faster fixes because they feel the pain firsthand."
"We’re focusing in the next 6 to 12 months on connecting research with education to improve product learning and support."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Seeing product managers and designers’ aha moments when they realize how impactful the tool is was great."
Taylor Jennings Joe Nelson Alex KnollRepository Retrospective: Learnings from Introducing a Central Place for UX Research
March 9, 2022
"Expectation describes how things ought to be and reinforces the distinction between the present and what is not yet here."
Nicole AleongFuture Orientations to Everyday Life: Futures Anthropology as a Methodology
March 26, 2024
"The team that comes up with the winning idea leaves the studio with equity and carries the idea forward."
Jeff GothelfInnovation Studios: the Engines of Enterprise Experimentation
May 14, 2015
"Accessibility is a program, not just a single project; starting small and scaling efforts builds momentum."
Saara Kamppari-MillerDesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility
May 26, 2022
"It’s the individuals who choose whether and how they take advantage of the opportunities you create."
Tess DixonC'mon Get Happy
September 29, 2021
"All your team wants to do is win at career Bingo or career Snakes and Ladders, hopefully more ladders."
Liam ThurstonWhy Your Design Team Is Quitting, And How To Fix It
June 10, 2022
"Innovation is about being fearless, breaking rules, and refusing to stop at the way things have always been done."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"At DTA, distributed teams and lack of local diversity meant everyone was out in the field a lot to get diverse input."
Leisa ReicheltOpening Keynote: Operating in Context
November 7, 2018
"It depends was the most common answer to how do you know what you’re doing is working."
Rachael Greene Alison DavisBuilding a Design Ops Practice that Really Works (Most of the Time)
October 2, 2025
