As companies grow, research can’t stay locked behind one team. Democratized research opens access so more people can connect with users, but scaling that safely takes structure, training, and a whole lot of trust.

At Gather & Growth 2025 in New York City, this conversation asked a simple question: what does it take to open up research without losing control? These three ReOps pros shared the tools, processes, and lessons learned from building systems that scale trust and access together.

👋 Lauren Galanter, Research Operations Lead at Elsevier, co-created her role after four years as a UX Researcher. She now supports 70+ designers and researchers across healthcare products, building systems that balance self-service research with compliance and control.

👋 Deeptha Subramanian, UX Research Lead at SmartBear, specializes in AI and emerging technologies. She’s built research programs from scratch, guided teams through growth, and helped shape strategy at companies like Meta, all with an eye toward scaling research responsibly.

👋 Crystal Kubitsky, Senior Research Operations Consultant at Rally, brought her 20+ years of experience leading UX and ResearchOps at MongoDB, Vanguard, and Comcast to moderate the discussion. Her work centers on helping teams build the systems, tools, and culture that make great research possible.

If you weren’t able to join us live, or just want a refresh on the insights shared, keep reading or watch the recording. 

Want more from Gather & Growth 2025? Check out our other panel recaps:

• Empowering product decisions safely
• Myths & hot takes on AI in research
• Ops at scale: Lessons from Google

What does ResearchOps look like at your organization today?

Deeptha: I am a UX Researcher at SmartBear, where we build B2B software developer tools. When I joined in 2023, the research team was small, but since then we have scaled both our team and our footprint across the company ecosystem. A lot of that ties into governance, which I am sure you have heard about today and will keep hearing about in this talk.

Lauren: I am at Elsevier, which is a large global company in the healthcare and scientific space. Traditionally, we have been known for publishing, but we also have many digital products. My colleague and I make up a Research Ops team of two, small but mighty, like a lot of Research Ops folks out there. 

We support one UX organization within the healthcare product space, which includes about 70 designers and researchers. They are all empowered to do self-service research. For a while it was just me, and then we brought on a second specialist to help. We definitely need more people at some point.

What was your journey like starting Research Operations and laying the foundation?

Lauren: I was a senior researcher on the same team I support now. We had unofficial or early Research Ops, meaning there was no dedicated role, just managers doing some of the work. As the team grew, it became clear we needed someone dedicated to it. 

“The real catalyst was needing a centralized CRM to handle research logistics, our participant database, and especially incentives.”
– Lauren Galanter, Elsevier

The real catalyst was needing a centralized CRM to handle research logistics, our participant database, and especially incentives. The compliance risk around gift cards was high. I volunteered to lead the effort and made the case that this was not a one-time project but an ongoing function. We got approval, added a second person later, and now people cannot imagine not having Research Ops. We are the only dedicated Research Ops team in the company.

Deeptha: My first exposure to Research Ops was right after college at Vanderbilt Hospital. My manager was a surgeon who needed someone to handle all things research while she was doing brain surgery, so no pressure. 

There was no department or process in place, and the biggest challenge was figuring out where to begin. Over time I became more comfortable establishing and scaling research. In my current job, the challenge has shifted from building research to getting other teams comfortable with it and seeing the value.

What was one of your first quick wins that set you up for more wins later?

Lauren: For us, it was incentives. Our process for giving participants gift cards was painful. People had to put charges on corporate cards and get executive approval for every gift card, which took weeks and created compliance risk. We moved to a system where it is one click. It was a big win for researchers and a big win for leadership because it removed risk and saved time.

In a democratized environment, another early win was simply having a dedicated person to answer questions and support the team as we rolled out new systems. Before that, people would get stuck without help.

“UX Research is a specialized skill. To build trust, I invited PMs to join some of our research calls. Seeing it firsthand changed minds.”
– Deeptha Subramanian, SmartBear

Deeptha: Stakeholder buy-in. Before our team existed, PMs and designers were doing most of the research. There is a time and place for that, and it shows they value research, but UX Research is a specialized skill. To build trust, I invited PMs to join some of our research calls. Seeing it firsthand changed minds. One PM went from skeptical to excited and started pitching ideas for upcoming research.

Looking back, what do you wish you had not done or had not overthought or overengineered in the early days?

Deeptha: I am a perfectionist. I wanted everything perfect before moving to the next step, but I learned that is not realistic. We iterate on products after launch, and we should do the same with programs. Get it good enough, then improve over time. Things change fast, so chasing perfect is not worth it.

Lauren: When I first started, I had to consolidate eight different user panels and signup forms into one. Each team felt ownership over their version, so I built complicated logic to accommodate everything. It works, but it is brittle and hard to change. I wish I had kept it simpler. 

Another lesson is that high-touch support is great at first, but as we grew, we got flooded with questions. Now we crowdsource Q&A in Slack and are exploring a bot trained on our documentation.

Crystal: I overengineered consent using Adobe Sign. Our vendor’s built-in consent was basic, and we had many requests for variations, so I tried to make Adobe Sign work. What we really needed was a simple consent process to ensure research was happening with consent in place. We improved and expanded later, once we moved to Rally.

What was one of your first moves to scale the Research Ops practice?

Deeptha: When I join a company, I talk to everyone, not just UX. I learn how PMs, sales, and marketing work, find gaps, and then prioritize. Take what you hear, map it, and make a plan. Use the data you already have from the people in your company. That helps you prioritize and build relationships at the same time.

Lauren: Our Research Ops function was born out of scale. We replaced a duct-tape system of scheduling tools, spreadsheets, and multiple forms with one consistent system. That made research faster and more efficient. After that, I realized onboarding needed scaling too. I used to do one-on-one sessions for every new hire. Now I blend recorded training with a short live session, keeping the human touch while saving time.

“Our Research Ops function was born out of scale. We replaced a duct-tape system of scheduling tools, spreadsheets, and multiple forms with one consistent system.”
– Lauren Galanter, Elsevier

Crystal: We required that people’s first three studies in Rally be reviewed at two points before publishing. It set a quality bar and gave them feedback early. We also provided templates with built-in compliance questions and logic, so people could start with something reliable.

How do you define governance so it accelerates rather than blocks? How do you talk about governance and compliance?

Deeptha: Governance is structure that gives a company a framework. People often see it as red tape, but I see it as freedom. When you are not worried about whether your participant data is secure or your consent forms are right, you can focus on what matters: listening to users and shaping strategy. The more structure you have, the more time you have for high-impact work.

“Governance is structure that gives a company a framework. People often see it as red tape, but I see it as freedom.”
– Deeptha Subramanian, SmartBear

Lauren: I describe Research Ops as setting the rails for people to run on. The guardrails are there so you do not have to worry about making mistakes like using the wrong consent form or over-contacting participants. 

It is not red tape, it is support. I also use the bowling analogy: governance is like bumpers in a lane. It keeps you from going into the gutter so you can focus on getting the strike. When new people join, they are usually relieved that we already have systems and panels in place.

Outside of training, what frameworks or toolkits help non-researchers do safe, ethical research using Ops?

Lauren: We have detailed documentation for all processes and templates. It can be a balance so it is not overwhelming, but it allows people to self-serve and follow step-by-step instructions from planning through analysis. 

We also have a program called Study Buddies, run by senior researchers. Designers and researchers get peer feedback on their study plans, methods, moderation, surveys, and screeners. We hold Research Ops office hours and maintain a Slack support channel where questions are asked publicly so answers can help everyone.

Deeptha: I do not want to do all the research myself. Self-service helps ensure smaller questions do not fall through the cracks. We provide templates for things like personas and workflows that PMs can use, and those can roll into our larger repository. Having PMs join research calls also helps because they learn by watching. They see the tone and flow of good sessions, so less formal training is needed later.

“I do not want to do all the research myself. Self-service helps ensure smaller questions do not fall through the cracks.”
– Deeptha Subramanian, SmartBear

Crystal: We created consent guidance and a decision tree to help teams know when they need an NDA and when a vendor’s built-in consent is enough. We also gave compliance guidance to reduce unnecessary questions. For example, we moved age verification into the consent form itself instead of collecting it as personal data in the screener. Small steps like that reduce friction and keep things safe.

What does impact look like in your org, and which metrics resonate with leadership?

Deeptha: It depends on the project. The story behind the numbers matters more than the specific metric. A feature might see 75 percent more engagement, but that number means little without context from user feedback. It is about connecting the metric to the narrative.

Lauren: We do not measure everything, but we track useful data so it is ready. A big win last year was saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by using our own panel and vendor panel instead of slow, expensive agencies. That saved time and money, which leadership cares about most. 

“A big win last year was saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by using our own panel and vendor panel instead of slow, expensive agencies.”
– Lauren Galanter, Elsevier

We also track research findings in Jira, where product and engineering work happens. We can see how many findings have been addressed, where things are stuck, and what is driving change. That visibility has gotten a lot of attention.

Crystal: At MongoDB, we tracked the number of projects informed by research. Every project had a Jira ticket tied to a business objective, so we could show that research contributed directly to company goals. We also tracked the number of people we talked to each month and quarter, including unique participants. That mattered for maintaining a customer-first mindset.

How have you promoted engagement with the tools and processes so PMs and designers use them?

Deeptha: You have to meet them halfway. Sometimes we introduce tools that PMs only use when they work with UX. That makes our lives easier, but we have to think about their workflow too. Find integrations or common ground. We do not have to use every tool they use, but we should choose platforms they can easily access and step out of when needed.

“Find integrations or common ground. We do not have to use every tool they use, but we should choose platforms they can easily access and step out of when needed.”
– Deeptha Subramanian, SmartBear

Lauren: We focus on our UX team, since that is our direct remit. If you join our team and want to do research, you go through training. That is your ticket to access the tools. People sometimes go a little rogue, but we are not in a position where we have to persuade the entire company. For our scope, engagement comes naturally through structure and support.

As you scale, what tactics help maintain rigor so leaders do not default to product intuition?

Lauren: We keep rigor through peer feedback and consistent standards. Study Buddies gives everyone a place to get eyes on their work, whether they are researchers or designers. We maintain a library of best practices across methods and analysis, plus a “which method when” guide. We run team learning sessions and have templates for consistency. Training a growing team with limited people is hard, but this combination keeps quality high.

Deeptha: We are very collaborative. Our research team meets often, our design team meets, and we work cross-functionally. We have sessions where someone presents new topics or shares a recent win. It keeps everyone learning without a heavy formal process. 

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💜 Thanks to Lauren, Deeptha, and Crystal for showing that democratizing research isn’t about control, it’s about confidence. When the right systems are in place, everyone wins.