Latest / The Feed & The Thread / The Feed & The Thread - February 14, 2026

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The Feed & The Thread - February 14, 2026 · The Feed & The Thread

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  Today we're diving into the nuances of conducting UX
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  research with minors, focusing on the balance between parental
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  consent and verbal assent from the young participants. And the
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  community is buzzing about a designer who built a free online
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  photo booth as part of their latest project, showing off some
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  creative skills in the process.
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  Welcome to The Feed and The Thread, brought to you by
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  Chicago Camps. Our next UX Camp event is coming up on February
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  twenty first. Tickets are very affordable & free options
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  available. Don't miss out! Hey! Did you know that we also
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  launched The Feed & The Thread in the App Store? Get your
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  updates in the app, with summaries and links to articles
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  and conversations. See you there!
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  Let's see what the experts are saying today. In a new piece
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  titled "UX Research with Minors: Consent vs. Assent," Kate Kaplan
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  at Nielsen Norman Group argues that obtaining both parental
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  consent and verbal assent from minors is crucial in UX research
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  involving children and teens. She emphasizes the importance of
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  respecting ethical standards by securing written consent from
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  guardians and verbal agreement from participants under 18.
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  Over at UX Design.cc, Kike Peña's latest "Innovation is not
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  magic; it’s technique" takes on the common misconception that
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  innovation is solely about new ideas. He challenges rushing
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  into innovation without considering internal dynamics
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  like talent and communication roles, which can lead to long-
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  term stress and issues. At Smashing Magazine, Kat Homan's
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  article "Building Digital Trust: An Empathy-Centred UX Framework
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  For Mental Health Apps" outlines an empathy-centred framework for
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  designing mental health apps. Focusing on three key
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  pillars—onboarding as supportive conversation, interface design
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  accommodating distress, and retention patterns deepening
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  trust—the piece highlights the importance of building digital
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  trust from the very beginning. Also publishing recently:
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  Mitoware, Codrops, and CSS- Tricks. Be sure to check them
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  out in your feeds!
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  Okay, what's the community buzzing about?
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  So over in the UX Design subreddit, folks are dealing
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  with burnout and job searches. One commenter put it well: "2.5
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  months is literally nothing in this market." And another didn't
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  sugarcoat it either: "I've been searching for 11 months. Sorry
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  but I'm not going to sugarcoat it, you're right to be scared."
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  It's tough when the work starts to feel like everything but
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  design. Can't blame them for feeling that way. Meanwhile,
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  the web_design subreddit has some exciting news -- a designer
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  built a free online photo booth! Now, that's something worth
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  checking out if you're into quick projects and fun side
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  gigs. And speaking of new stuff, over in the same
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  subreddit, there's a big conversation about the EU trying
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  to regulate infinite scrolling. Brussels is going head-to-head
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  with social media platforms to change addictive design
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  practices. It's like they're saying, "Enough with the endless
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  feed!" (Hey, we try to keep our Feed to just a few items per day
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  at The Feed & Thread!) And finally, over in the
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  DesignSystems subreddit, someone's making the transition
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  into fintech and looking for mentorship on building design
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  systems in that space. The community showed up with
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  practical advice, but also some real talk about how niche the
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  fintech design systems world still is. Breaking into a new
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  vertical means proving you can translate your existing skills,
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  not just learning new ones. That's what folks are buzzing
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  about today! Lots to chew on!
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  Chicago Camps is hosting UX Camp Winter on Saturday, February
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  21st. There will be plenty of great presentations, all online,
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  so you can join from anywhere in the world! Tickets are only
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  thirteen dollars and fifty cents and there are plenty of
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  complimentary passes available thanks to the generosity of the
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  community. Get tickets now at Chicago Camps dot org. This is a
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  great value!
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  Today, we talked about the importance of obtaining both
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  parental consent and verbal assent from minors in UX
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  research. And speaking of community discussions, it’s
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  clear folks are dealing with burnout and navigating job
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  searches. Thanks for tuning in — we'll catch you next time.
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  That's The Feed and The Thread for today. Keep designing with
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  intention!