Vision board vs. mood board

Vision board vs. mood board in product design: A quick intro

Product design is the craft of conceptualizing, planning, and creating items we use daily. From the latest smartphone model to the chic coffee maker in your kitchen, product design influences form, function, and user experience. Critical to this process are tools and methodologies that guide ideation, communication, and execution. Our primary focus today is two such tools: vision boards and mood boards.

Understanding vision boards

A vision board, often used at the beginning of a product design project, is a collage that visually represents the product's goals, functionality, and target user. It's essentially the "storyboard" of your product design journey.

In a vision board, you might find sketches of potential product designs, bullet points of goals to achieve, personas representing the end users, and various images, texts, and materials representing what the final product should accomplish. A vision board is a beacon guiding the product design process.

To illustrate, consider the development of an eco-friendly smartwatch. A vision board might include sketches of the watch, green symbols indicating eco-friendliness, snippets of technology news suggesting features it could have, and profiles of potential users - say, environmentally-conscious young adults.

Understanding mood boards

Mood boards, on the other hand, delve into the aesthetic, emotional, and sensory aspects of the product. They convey not what the product is but how it feels. They're like the "soundtrack" of your design process - setting the tone and atmosphere for the product.

A mood board for our eco-friendly smartwatch might incorporate images of nature, color swatches in earthy tones, textures like wood and recycled materials, and photos representing the lifestyle of the target users. This board immerses the design team in the emotional and sensory context the product aims to evoke.

Differences between vision boards and mood boards

Though both the vision board and the mood board are visual tools used in product design, their purposes, elements, and impact on the design process are fundamentally different. Let's go deeper into these differences for a clearer understanding.

1. Purpose and Goals

• Vision Board: A vision board acts as a strategic guide for the entire product design journey. It clarifies and communicates the overarching goals, objectives, and direction for the product. It answers questions like: What are we trying to achieve? Who are we designing for? How will the product solve the user's problems? In the context of our earlier example, the vision board for an eco-friendly smartwatch might articulate objectives such as promoting sustainability, integrating advanced tech features, and catering to the needs of environmentally-conscious consumers.

• Mood Board: A mood board, on the other hand, aims to evoke the aesthetic, emotional, and sensory experiences associated with the product. It's about building a sensory world around the product, answering questions like: What feelings should the product invoke? What is the product's visual identity? How will it fit into the user's lifestyle? For the eco-friendly smartwatch, the mood board would explore how to visually and emotionally convey sustainability and tech-savviness to align with the lifestyles of the target consumers.

2. Composition and Elements

• Vision Board: The elements in a vision board are diverse and analytical. They could include sketches of product designs, bullet points of features, user personas, competitive analysis, inspiration from existing products, and even potential marketing strategies. Each element is carefully selected to give a comprehensive overview of the product's intended design and functionalities.

• Mood Board: The mood board primarily uses visual and sensory elements like photographs, color swatches, textures, patterns, and sometimes even words or phrases. Each of these elements work together to create a 'mood' or 'feel' for the product. For example, for our eco-friendly smartwatch, the mood board might use a color palette of earthy tones, images of nature, wood textures, and phrases like 'sustainable living' to create a cohesive aesthetic.

3. Impact on the Design Process

• Vision Board: The vision board informs the more analytical aspects of the design process. It guides the team through the practicalities of product design, from determining the product's features to understanding its user base. It helps set priorities and can be regularly referred to throughout the process to ensure that the product design remains aligned with its initial goals and user needs.

• Mood Board: The mood board, focusing on aesthetics and emotions, influences the 'softer' aspects of product design. It guides choices related to visual design - such as color, typography, and form. It also helps the team understand the product's emotional resonance, ensuring that it functions well and looks and feels good to the user.

These three differentiation parameters — purpose and goals, composition and elements, and impact on the design process — form the core variance between vision boards and mood boards. Both have unique roles, and neither can replace the other in the product design process. They work best when used in tandem, informing and enriching each other to create a product that is not just functional but also aesthetically pleasing and emotionally resonant.

The interplay between vision boards and mood boards

Though distinct, these boards do not exist in silos. They complement and influence each other. The functional design choices from the vision board may inform the aesthetic elements in the mood board. Similarly, the emotional context from the mood board can inspire certain functionalities to be included in the vision board.

How to create effective vision and mood Boards

If you're ready to dive in and start creating these boards, here are some steps and tips to get you started:

1. Identify the purpose of your product: Clearly define the goals, functionalities, and target users. These will form the basis of your vision board.

2. Collect relevant materials: For vision boards, gather sketches, articles, user profiles, etc. For mood boards, collect images, colors, textures, and lifestyle photos that resonate with the product's feel.

3. Arrange and analyze: Lay out the collected items on the board and see how they interact and tell your product's story.

4. Iterate and refine: Both boards should evolve with your design process. Always be open to changes and improvements.

5. Collaborate: It's crucial to have everyone's input on these boards, especially in a team setting. Tools like Miro can be an excellent platform for this collaborative process.

Conclusion

In product design, vision, and mood boards are two powerful tools that guide functionality and aesthetics. Understanding and leveraging them appropriately can dramatically improve your design process and product.

Hopefully, this article has clarified the differences between vision and mood boards and given you the confidence to utilize them in your next product design project. Happy designing!