Modelling In Business Model Design:Reflections On Three Experimental Cases In Healthy Living

This paper reviews the origins of modelling in design theory and reflects on its application within the new mode of innovation: business model design. Three main principles of modelling are identified in association to design theory: (1) modelling as a visual reasoning, as a (2) prescriptive aggregation of complex systems, as the (3) creation of an artefact. Drawn from designer's experiences in three experimental cases of healthy living, three additional principles of business modelling are identified: (1) prescriptions of value exchanges in network model visualisations, (2) modelling as a shared vision, communication and commitment of multiple actors and as (3) dynamic modelling across time zones. The paper proposes that by modelling, designers can offer a useful contribution to business model design.