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
"Most bad panels feel like a bunch of people showing up at the last minute without shared goals or preparation."
Louis Rosenfeld Jemma Ahmed Christian Crumlish Uday Gajendar Chris GeisonCoffee with Lou #3: What Makes for a Successful UX Conference Presentation?
May 2, 2024
"Emojis and GIFs have become effective tools for remote teams to add expression and prevent miscommunication."
Jilanna WilsonDistributed Design Operations Management
October 23, 2019
"AI intelligence is too cheap to meter, or we can call it McKinsey interns too cheap to meter."
Matt WebbContext Window: Five Futures for AI
June 11, 2025
"If your company has customers with disabilities but no way to collect their feedback, you’re missing critical insights."
Sam ProulxAccessibility: An Opportunity to Innovate
September 8, 2022
"Preventative care UX challenges, like why men won’t come in, are deeply rooted and not solved by prettier buttons."
Theresa NeilDesigning for Wellness: Specializing in Healthcare
May 22, 2024
"One of the biggest problems in AI building is evolving your prompts and having a fast feedback loop."
Peter Van DijckHands-on AI #2: Understanding evals: LLM as a Judge
October 15, 2025
"The most powerful word in the design ops vocabulary is no."
Rachel Posman John Calhoun"Ask Me Anything" with Rachel Posman and John Calhoun, Authors of the Upcoming Rosenfeld Book, The Design Conductors
September 25, 2024
"Companies parachuting in to 'study' marginalized groups often do more harm than good when they don't build local capacity."
Tricia WangThe most popular design thinking strategy is BS
January 27, 2022
"Pay transparency within organizations is critical for enabling good work and healthier working conditions."
Sarah Auslander Betsy Ramaccia Gordon RossInsights Panel
November 18, 2022
