06 Moodboards

App Prototyping Studio

Mick McQuaid

University of Texas at Austin

29 Sep 2026

Week SIX

A provocative talk

  • Jenny Wen, formerly design director at Figma
  • Leader of the Figjam team
  • Talk: Don’t trust the process
  • Refers to the double diamond process (the other major school of design thinking besides the Stanford school—think EDIPT, which is what we tried on day one)
  • Says you should not rigidly adhere to the process, instead make a lot of prototypes
  • Double diamond has four steps (she says it’s five?!) but she advocates three, but even be flexible about those three
  • Advocates brainstorming, sketching, and prototyping

mood boards

What is a mood board?

  • Collage
  • Images
  • Typography
  • Color palettes
  • Conveys a strong impression
  • Can be checked by asking people what they see

Why a mood board, according to 99designs

  • Inspiration
  • Affirmation
  • Guidance
  • Communication

Images (again 99designs)