Summary
Come listen to real stories of how User Research has worked closely with Product Design and Product Management at Compass. Moderated by Anna Avrekh, Director of User Research, this Q&A session will cover how teams work closely with user research, how they have taken action off of user research, and the keys to successful relationships. Feel the love!
Key Insights
-
•
User research at Compass reveals vast diversity in agent workflows and needs across different markets.
-
•
A key discovery was that agents use competitor products differently than expected, leading to a hybrid product approach.
-
•
Embedding researchers within squads fosters more meaningful collaboration and lifecycle involvement.
-
•
Tight timelines and shifting priorities create challenges in scheduling impactful user research sessions.
-
•
Designers and PMs must balance the desire to research all details with limited research capacity.
-
•
User research often uncovers insights beyond the original questions, leading to broader strategic shifts.
-
•
There is a common misunderstanding equating user research with simple user feedback collection.
-
•
Cross-training product teams on research principles helps scale basic user insight gathering.
-
•
Having researchers present in executive meetings adds critical nuance and authority to product discussions.
-
•
Empathy for the difficulty of conducting research sessions is vital for better collaboration and respect.
Notable Quotes
"I’m always shocked when my design is just the perfect solution from the get go."
"We found out there wasn’t just one best in class solution and needed a hybrid approach."
"User research revealed agents didn’t know the difference between two similar products and treated them as one."
"Prioritizing research questions is key because we can’t validate every single detail."
"Having the researcher in the room throughout the product lifecycle is super helpful."
"User research is not just collecting feedback; it’s a methodical process to avoid bias."
"Sometimes you just have to do without research if the timeline is too short."
"You don’t know how hard it is until you’re leading a user research session yourself."
"Research produces so much data, but synthesizing it and choosing what to act on is a real challenge."
"Democratizing research is about teaching people to fish, but research remains a specialized craft."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Sometimes it might be seen as something that is not necessary because our end users are practically colleagues, not actually paying customers."
Kit Unger Jackie Ho Veevi Rosenstein Vasileios XanthopoulosTheme 2: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"The waggle dance communicates direction and distance to new food sources with remarkable precision."
Mariesa LenzWhat Beekeeping Taught me about Product Teams
October 29, 2025
"Anybody making decisions about products should have regular exposure to researchers — Jared Spool’s exposure hours."
Jesse ZolnaInviting the Whole Org to Come See For Yourself
March 30, 2020
"Staff and principal designers need to balance zooming in on execution and zooming out to define strategic vision and minimize risk."
Catt Small Micah Bennett Brian Carr Jessica HarlleeWhat's Next for ICs: Exploring Staff and Principal Designer Roles
February 22, 2024
"AI itself has a very large carbon footprint, so we have to balance adoption with our environmental goals."
Louis Rosenfeld Billy Carlson Jon Fukuda Maria TaylorHow AI will Change DesignOps Tooling
October 3, 2023
"Rich industrialized countries outsource their plastic waste disposal to less capable countries."
Sheryl CababaExpanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
March 28, 2023
"Innovation is invention multiplied by adoption multiplied by inclusion."
Saara Kamppari-Miller Nicole Bergstrom Shashi JainKey Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”
November 13, 2024
"Not every head of design is the right leader for every phase of organizational maturity."
John DevanneyThe Design Management Office
November 6, 2017
"I use mural for a lot of research where I create interactive co-creative experiences with customers."
Erika FlowersIntroduction to MURAL for UX
June 11, 2021
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
Why is collaboration with data scientists important when using quantitative ethnography?
How might quantitative ethnography enable real-time qualitative insights during ongoing data collection?
How can UX practitioners build influence within healthcare organizations where clinical outcomes dominate decision-making?