User Research, Design, and Product - A Love Story
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
"Drag and drop ease, and collaborative affinity diagramming in the tool, were unexpected but very welcome advantages."
Taylor Jennings Joe Nelson Alex KnollRepository Retrospective: Learnings from Introducing a Central Place for UX Research
March 9, 2022
"Expectation describes how things ought to be and reinforces the distinction between the present and what is not yet here."
Nicole AleongFuture Orientations to Everyday Life: Futures Anthropology as a Methodology
March 26, 2024
"Disruptive innovation is about changing customer behavior, not shipping features."
Jeff GothelfInnovation Studios: the Engines of Enterprise Experimentation
May 14, 2015
"By designing products through the lens of edge cases like disabilities first, they often become better products for everyone."
Saara Kamppari-MillerDesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility
May 26, 2022
"Our culture has diminished a lot of the other things in life that are supposed to give us meaning and put infinite pressure on work."
Tess DixonC'mon Get Happy
September 29, 2021
"We ran ambient workshops so folks could contribute on their own time and remove the friction of synchronous meetings."
Liam ThurstonWhy Your Design Team Is Quitting, And How To Fix It
June 10, 2022
"Leadership doesn’t only mean managing; it can be mentoring, product leadership, or technical influence."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"One researcher per team for at least three days a week was considered an outrageous luxury at GDS in 2013."
Leisa ReicheltOpening Keynote: Operating in Context
November 7, 2018
"Slowing down is hard in a capitalist economy that values speed, but patience and self-care are necessary."
Rachael Greene Alison DavisBuilding a Design Ops Practice that Really Works (Most of the Time)
October 2, 2025