2 researchers, 3k employees: Democratizing research at Flight Centre

Anyone who’s managed research at scale has felt the pressure: requests keep pouring in, but headcount isn’t growing to match demand. From tech and finance to travel and beyond, it’s not uncommon for lean research teams to support hundreds, sometimes thousands, of colleagues.

When expectations outpace capacity, something has to give. Some companies stall. Others cut corners. A rare few find ways to scale research by empowering non-researchers to do their own research, without compromising rigor or quality.

Flight Centre Travel Group is part of the rare few. With only two full-time researchers, we’ve built an internal culture of research where any of our 3,000 employees can get involved—if they’re willing to put in the work.

As Senior UX Researcher & Research Operations Lead (and 50% of our research team), I want to share:

• Our democratization journey at Flight Centre
• What my fellow research leaders can learn from it
• Our research framework template (download at the end)

Why democratization became essential at Flight Centre

While research democratization is no longer new, it’s still rarely done well at scale. And that’s a problem given the high stakes. At its best, democratization can empower your whole company to put the voice of the customer first, removing bottlenecks and freeing up researchers to focus on more strategic, impactful work. But if not managed carefully, it can also introduce risk and inconsistency that does more harm than good.

At Flight Centre, the need for democratization is both cultural and practical. Large research teams are rare in Australia. Companies often embed researchers within product or design teams, making research a shared responsibility rather than a siloed function.

This structure demands that everyone, not just specialists, engage with customers and insights. 

The complexity of Flight Centre’s business only amplifies this need. Our company operates across leisure, supply, and corporate divisions, each with distinct customer segments and operational challenges. In the past, siloed research efforts led to duplicated work, wasted resources, and missed opportunities for cross-pollination. 

To fix this, we approached democratization as a way to empower people to make better decisions with research. But before we could build a sustainable research model that scales, we first had to give people the tools and knowledge they needed to succeed.

Download: 2025 State of UX Research Democratization Report

The first step: Mapping the mess & building relationships

Research democratization typically fails when it’s treated as a top-down mandate. At Flight Centre, our journey started with humility and curiosity. When I first joined the company, we had fragmented knowledge and disconnected teams. No central repository. No shared processes. No standard way to run research.

My first step wasn’t to enforce rules—it was to knock on doors, talk to people across departments, and map what already existed. I asked a simple question: What research already exists, and who’s doing it?

This audit revealed a patchwork of ad hoc studies, undocumented insights, and disconnected teams. Rather than imposing a new process, I focused on connecting people and surfacing what was already working. This bottom-up approach built trust and made it easier to introduce more structured practices later.

Training for scale: Bootcamps, templates & embedded support

Enabling non-researchers to conduct studies has its risks. Quality can slip, ethical lines can blur, and valuable data can get lost in translation. We tackled these challenges with a layered approach that combines training, hands-on support, and robust infrastructure.

Every quarter, our research team runs a full-day upskilling program for stakeholders across the business. The curriculum covers the essentials: defining research questions, selecting methods, recruiting participants, and synthesizing findings. Participants work through real-world scenarios, such as planning a customer journey study or prioritizing product features.

Templates play a central role here as well. Before launching any study, teams complete a comprehensive research plan covering objectives, hypotheses, participant criteria, and more. The first time, this process takes up to 90 minutes with a researcher’s guidance. Over time, as confidence and competence grow, teams complete it in 20 minutes or less. Every plan receives a review from a researcher, who flags leading questions, methodological gaps, or ethical risks.

This model doesn’t just protect quality. It accelerates learning.

Forty non-researchers completed our last bootcamp, and many now lead their own studies—freeing our core research team to focus on high-impact, complex projects.

Guardrails over gatekeeping: How Flight Centre maintains quality

Scaling research across thousands of employees requires more than good intentions. Flight Centre’s system relies on clear, enforceable boundaries. High-risk studies that involve sensitive customer segments or major business decisions require direct involvement from a trained researcher. For lower-risk projects, non-researchers can operate more independently, but always with access to templates, checklists, and coaching.

Besides that, our regular “center of excellence” meetings bring together researchers, designers, product managers, and even finance staff to share insights and refine practices. This cross-functional approach prevents silos and keeps everyone aligned on standards and expectations. The research team also reviews outputs, providing feedback and maintaining a shared repository of insights.

Technology as a force multiplier: The role Great Question plays

Infrastructure makes or breaks democratized research. When I joined Flight Centre, the company relied on a patchwork of tools and vendor contracts, with little visibility or consistency. Switching from one of those tools, UserTesting, to Great Question changed the game. The platform centralizes your participant recruitment, study management, and insight repository, making research accessible to everyone, not just the core team. 

Previously, only 20 designers were able to access UserTesting. Now, over 130 employees across the company can launch research studies, analyze findings, and review insights—while operating within our rigorous framework for democratization.

This shift has broken down silos, accelerated learning, and reduced reliance on external vendors. Automation and AI-powered features available on the platform have also played a major role in helping non-researchers avoid rookie mistakes and focus on generating actionable insights.

Measuring success: ROI, impact & organizational change

Democratization isn’t just about running more studies. It’s about driving better outcomes. At Flight Centre, our research OKRs align directly with executive priorities. 

While the shift to democratization has cut costs, reduced our dependency on external vendors, and increased the volume and relevance of customer insights, it’s also changed how we make decisions. Product managers, marketers, and designers now have direct access to research, which enables faster, smarter decisions. The research team, freed from routine requests, can focus on strategic initiatives, such as audience segmentation, long-term trend analysis, and high-stakes projects that demand deep expertise.

Lessons for my fellow research leaders to consider

While our approach to democratization may not be ideal for everyone, there are several lessons from our experience that can help research leaders who are facing similar constraints like we once were.

• First, start with culture. Democratization thrives in environments that value collaboration and shared ownership over hierarchy. Focus on building an internal culture of research from the bottom up. 
• Second, invest in training and infrastructure. Access to bootcamps, templates, and tools are essential for scaling quality research. Democratization is about empowering people. That means giving them what they need to succeed.
• Third, set clear boundaries. This isn’t a free-for-all where anyone can run any type of study. Use risk and complexity to guide the level of research oversight required.

Finally, embrace the evolving role of the researcher. As our experience at Flight Centre shows, having a large, centralized research team isn’t a given. Our success depended on our ability to adapt and create a culture where everyone feels responsible for customer insights. 

When done right, democratization doesn’t dilute research. It multiplies impact, making organizations smarter, faster, and more customer-centric.