Between Swipes and Selves
Reflections on Mobile Tech and Growing Up by Teens, for Everyone
Intro
This zine grew out of the “Mobile Technology and Teens” workshop held at the ACM CHI Conference in Spring 2025, which brought together researchers, designers, practitioners, students, parents, and teens to explore how to design for healthy teen–mobile technology relationships amid real-world complexity, sociocultural diversity, and rapid technological change.
With 43 participants from 18 institutions, the workshop centered teens’ voices as experts in navigating and shaping their digital lives. Through live discussions and personal memoirs, they shared everyday challenges, self-awareness, and the tactical wisdom developed over time.
Building on that work, this zine compiles and edits teens’ memoirs, highlighting key moments through cartoon-style illustrations to amplify their lived experiences and insights. These pieces are more than stories—they are artifacts of everyday negotiation, care, conflict, and connection, offering grounded provocations for researchers and designers to consider what we should build and how to create technologies that foster well-being, trust, and reflection.
EditorsAaron Zhu, Willow Yoo, Bengisu Çağıltay, Janghee Cho
Authors & TeensWillow Yoo, Kaylin Yi, Jisso Yi, Sascha Snow, Eleanor Chin Drix
We brought this zine to the DIS’ 25! 🎉
Reflections on Mobile Tech and Growing Up by Teens, for Everyone
This zine grew out of the “Mobile Technology and Teens” workshop held at the ACM CHI Conference in Spring 2025, which brought together researchers, designers, practitioners, students, parents, and teens to explore how to design for healthy teen–mobile technology relationships amid real-world complexity, sociocultural diversity, and rapid technological change.
With 43 participants from 18 institutions, the workshop centered teens’ voices as experts in navigating and shaping their digital lives. Through live discussions and personal memoirs, they shared everyday challenges, self-awareness, and the tactical wisdom developed over time.
Building on that work, this zine compiles and edits teens’ memoirs, highlighting key moments through cartoon-style illustrations to amplify their lived experiences and insights. These pieces are more than stories—they are artifacts of everyday negotiation, care, conflict, and connection, offering grounded provocations for researchers and designers to consider what we should build and how to create technologies that foster well-being, trust, and reflection.
EditorsAaron Zhu, Willow Yoo, Bengisu Çağıltay, Janghee Cho
Authors & TeensWillow Yoo, Kaylin Yi, Jisso Yi, Sascha Snow, Eleanor Chin Drix
We brought this zine to the DIS’ 25! 🎉