Summary
Join the moderator, Kayla Farrell (Sr User Researcher), as she runs a Q&A session with Chelsey Glasson (Staff User Researcher), Sean Fitzell (User Research Manager), and Jared LeClerc (Sr User Researcher), as they discuss life as a user researcher at Compass.
Key Insights
-
•
Compass's research team grew from 3 to 15+ members in two years, enabling more foundational and cross-functional work.
-
•
Agents use multiple disjointed tools for buying/selling homes; Compass aims to consolidate these workflows.
-
•
Agents are entrepreneurs running their own businesses, often spread thin and scrappy in managing deals and relationships.
-
•
Remote onboarding during the pandemic posed challenges, particularly with technical support and childcare, but was eased by a supportive culture.
-
•
Transitioning from IC to management requires a different skill set and mindset; it often happens organically rather than by career desire alone.
-
•
Real estate data and terminology vary regionally, complicating standardization efforts within Compass's systems.
-
•
Cross-team collaboration among researchers sparks new perspectives, camaraderie, and improved approaches to shared problems.
-
•
Research at Compass supports agent financial and business management, a previously underexplored but impactful area.
-
•
The entrepreneurial spirit of agents opens opportunities to build tools that help them grow their brands and businesses.
-
•
Future plans include building research tools for workflows, better organizational support, and archiving mechanisms for shared knowledge.
Notable Quotes
"When I started, there were just three of us, now we’re up to over 15 people and growing."
"I started spending more time understanding agent processes at a deeper level beyond just answering tactical questions."
"Working for large companies became frustrating because politics and procedures pulled me away from the research I love."
"I want to grow as a researcher by trying different environments and building new research muscles."
"Remote onboarding isn’t radically different but sometimes you wish you could just call someone over to your desk."
"Agents are business owners who are incredibly spread thin and scrappy in how they manage everything."
"Being a manager is really hard, and just because you’re a great individual contributor doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it."
"Real estate data such as price per square foot varies widely by region, making system mapping challenging."
"Agents often have fascinating second or third career backgrounds that unlock deeper research insights."
"I’m excited about scaling our research work with better ops support and building tools to share knowledge more efficiently."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"If you launch in the US and politeness is an issue, first try to fix it with prompts; only if that fails should you build an eval."
Peter Van DijckBuilding impactful AI products for design and product leaders, Part 2: Evals are your moat
July 23, 2025
"For execs, sometimes getting them to be pilot participants makes them feel the product pain and opens them to research."
Chris Geison Cristen Torrey Eric MahlstedtWhat is Research Strategy?: A Panel of Research Leaders Discuss this Emergent Question
March 4, 2021
"Component-driven prototyping means designing with coded UI components your development team already created."
Jack BeharHow to Build Prototypes that Behave like an End-Product
December 6, 2022
"Target’s internal teams varied in design maturity from totally nonexistent to full design strategy, so we had to meet them where they were."
Abbey Smalley Sylas SouzaScaling UX Past the Size of Your Team
January 8, 2024
"Whatever you were a year ago, whatever you believe design ops looks like today, don't let those be moment prisons for you."
Jon FukudaTheme One Intro
October 2, 2023
"Ethics evolve faster than laws; just because something is legal doesn’t make it ethical."
Erin WeigelGet Your Whole Team Testing to Design for Impact
July 24, 2024
"Design ops isn’t rocket science, but between us it might actually be harder."
John Calhoun Rachel PosmanMeters, Miles, and Madness: New Frameworks to Measure the (Elusive) Value of DesignOps
September 24, 2024
"They had no idea who we were or what value we provided, so first was hello, we exist."
Jacqui Frey Dan WillisPanel Discussion: Integrating DesignOps
November 7, 2018
"Stepping into the shoes of design gave stakeholders a new admiration for the design process and strengthened our relationship."
Amy EvansHow to Create Change
September 25, 2024
