The Feed & The Thread - February 15, 2026

This episode explores client expectations for UX consultants in the AI age, emphasizing human judgment over technology dazzle, and delves into how every product has a story that teams often overlook. It also highlights community discussions on improving activation rates by cutting down onboarding flows and designing for complex dev-tools/API-heavy products. Lastly, it announces the free online UX Camp Winter event on February 21st. Show Notes In This Episode UX consulting clients' expectations in the AI age, focusing on judgment over flashy demos. The narrative arc of product usage from onboarding to mastery. Strategies for overcoming creative blocks among designers. Leveraging Claude for enhanced research and design processes in product development. Articles Mentioned "What UX Consulting Clients Expect in the Age of AI" by Anna Kaley (Nielsen Norman Group) "Every Product Tells a Story. Most Teams Just Don't Read It" by Mitoware Team (Mitoware) "Can you run out of creativity?" by Dora Czerna (UX Design.cc) "Claude Skills for Product Designers" by Nick Babich (UX Planet) Community Discussions r/UX_Design - ditching onboarding flows and seeing activation rates increase r/UX_Design - getting comfortable designing for dev-tool or API-heavy products r/UI_Design - feedback on a new authorization login UI project r/design - inspiration from the Korean Air project to the National Aviation Museum of Korea Announcement Event: UX Camp Winter Date: Saturday, February 21st Location: Online Details: Free tickets with an option for general admission at $13.50. Link: Chicago Camps.org About The Feed & The Thread The Feed & The Thread is a daily summary of UX articles found in the industry and some light-touch updates from the UX Community found in online forums. It’s brief, and meant as a light-touch overview of what’s happening across UX.