What It's Like To Be a User Researcher at Compass
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
"People are starting to catch on with the fact that design matters and that it’s maturely important to solving the problems we face."
Greg PetroffSoftware as Material—A Redux
June 6, 2023
"The stories we tell are framed by the questions we ask. Our stories repeated become our beliefs and our beliefs influence our behavior."
Brendan JarvisFraming Tomorrow by Questioning Today
June 8, 2022
"Consistency is a key principle in design and in life; to achieve something you have to be consistent and disciplined."
Prerna MakanawalaAchieving Balanced Design Consistency
June 9, 2021
"Shapers combine human and machine intelligence and amplify each other’s strengths."
Tricia WangFrom Users to Shapers of AI: The Future of Research
March 25, 2024
"Competitiveness doesn’t motivate play as much as it used to; companionship and collaboration are more motivating now."
Cheryl PlatzEmbrace Your Fun Factor: Game Development Best Practices for Product Design
January 9, 2026
"We heard a bit about understanding the power and privilege that we have as designers, how to wield it, but also how to yield it to others."
Ariel KennanTheme Two Intro
November 17, 2022
"How might we has become like a church—untouchable and sanctimonious instead of a flexible tool."
Tricia WangThe most popular design thinking strategy is BS
January 27, 2022
"We’re the voice of the employee—we’re arbiters of truth, defenders of experience, and sometimes validators against manipulation."
Kristin WisnewskiMeasuring What Matters
October 23, 2019
"I wish I knew it was okay to invest in relationships; that’s how incremental change happens."
Scott Jensen Sarah Delaney Carmen LiuShort Take #2: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
December 6, 2022
