Laura Pacaud | Empower Decisions Through Research

Senior UX Researcher . +10 Years

A portrait of a woman with long dark hair, smiling, wearing hoop earrings, a necklace, and a black top. The background is blurred.

“I lead strategic research that moves organizations from assumption to confident, evidence-based decisions.”

Laura Pacaud

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SEE MY WORK

Strategic Research Roadmap Influence Continuous Discovery

Mixed Methods Scaling Research Stakeholder Management

Distributed Teams (US & Europe) B2B · B2C · SaaS · Cloud

About

I'm Laura, Senior UX Researcher with 10+ years across B2B, B2C, SaaS, and cloud products, leading strategic research across distributed teams in the US and Europe.

I drive organizations toward better decisions by identifying and leading the right research, bringing teams the clarity and new perspectives they need to move forward. I turn research into a strategic asset that shapes product direction and roadmaps, not just a deliverable.

At Travelport, I drive research across a global travel distribution platform transitioning to a cloud solution, partnering with 10+ cross-functional squads across multiple continents.

Over hundreds of mixed-methods studies with users located worldwide, I led strategic and discovery research during a critical cloud migration, navigating ambiguity from squad level to executive direction, uncovering product areas and user segments never explored before, flagging risks before they became costly, positioning the organization competitively, and protecting existing users from being left behind while driving adoption across new segments.

My purpose is delivering actionable research, aligning teams and stakeholders towards common goals, connecting the dots, championing accessibility and inclusion, putting diverse voices at the center of decisions, and making research understandable and approachable for everyone involved.

Measured Impact

200+
User interviews during a cloud migration, uncovering adoption barriers and unmet needs that informed product strategy, reduced migration risk, and helped teams prioritize investments with greater confidence.
150+
Research studies centralized in a single repository with full traceability, eliminating duplicated effort, ensuring no insight is lost, and giving leadership a living evidence base to back every product decision and roadmap priority.
29pt
CSAT gain on the Exchange feature through research-led redesign, directly improving retention, reducing churn risk, and demonstrating the commercial value of investing in user experience.
30+
Research trainings and workshops delivered across PMs, designers, and engineers, building organizational capability, reducing dependency on the research team, and freeing researchers to focus on strategic, high-impact work. 
+30%


More research shipped through process, discovery, and mentorship, scaling the organization's ability to make evidence-based decisions continuously, not just when a researcher is in the room.
20%
Growth in ancillary bookings following the Airline Distribution study, proving that research-led design decisions directly translate into measurable commercial outcomes.

Case Studies

Three studies across discovery, evaluative research, and stakeholder alignment.

Protected for confidentiality, please reach out for the password via Linkedin or Email.

Discovery Strategy

Case 1: Operators discovery

Led strategic research about Operators, critical yet previously unstudied segment of Travelport's business. A discovery study across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East replaced conflicting internal assumptions with a shared understanding of how operators actually work. Cited by leadership as a turning point in cross-functional alignment, directly shaping roadmap priorities and how the business approached an untapped market.

Flowchart titled 'From knowledge gap to strategic alignment' describing a 7-week mixed methods study on operator research. Sections include knowledge gap, conflicting assumptions, and access barriers leading to remote interviews, live observation, behavioral analysis, operator persona, video highlight reels, FullStory funnels, and finally roadmap re-prioritization for leadership-aligned product investment.

Snapshot of the Operators discovery research

Case 2: Script Builder

A two-phase mixed-method study evaluating a new GUI-based scripting tool during alpha; behavioral analysis across 150 testers, followed by moderated sessions. The research made the call: pause development, reframe the direction, and protect the organization from investing further in the wrong solution.

READ CASE STUDY

Evaluation Stakeholder Alignment

Case 3: Airline Distribution

A high-visibility joint study with a major US airline to resolve an internal design debate. Run across two organizations with eight moderated sessions with experienced travel agents. Research cut through internal disagreement and delivered a clear direction under tight commercial deadlines. The redesigned flow directly drove a 20% increase in ancillary bookings year-on-year.