Introduction: How has the result of that design contributed to society?

Ishikawa: I hope that through the assessment points of good examples of the Good Design Award winners which we will introduce here today, you will gain something which contributes to your next entries. This year the theme of the Good Design Award was "beauty and the power to resonate," and we kept this in mind even when judging this business model unit. 42 items in total received the Good Design Award from this unit.

Tachikawa: I think we evaluated the entries based on the following criteria for judging:
- has it connected things that weren't connected before?
- how has the result contributed to society ?

Business Model [BORDERLESS JAPAN]

Ishikawa: The businesses of social entrepreneurs tend to be quite small in scale, but this is an arrangement that bundles 100 to 200 million small businesses together to form an ecosystem in which fellow entrepreneurs can mutually encourage and support each other, and makes the overall business bigger. It's also good that it has devised ways to provide start-up know-how and sustainable management.

Shared Factory [Makers' Base Tokyo]

Tachikawa: Workshops that share the same building can share the use of equipment like laser cutters and 3-D printers. It creates a place that lowers the hurdles for starting up as a manufacturer. This arrangement helps businesses to start up and leads to utilization of vacant properties. I think this matches those needs well.

Ishikawa: The products of the people who make things here are put out for sale, there's a sales corner, and they can also sell things online, so the arrangement was highly praised for not only providing a place, but also for the back-up system that accompanied it.

Mobile App [TABETE] (GOOD DESIGN BEST100)

Hirota: Food waste is a social problem that is particularly pressing for small scale restaurants. There are many things that are similar to this, but this was praised for being the first one to start it. This unit deals with the category of Business model (and method), but it is not judged simply on taking money in and using it well, but from the point of view of business design. It's not simply a matter of "this is a good arrangement!" but it's assessed from the perspective of whether the power of design has been used to turn social issues into something of value.

Ishikawa: I think business design involves thinking about social problems or customers' needs from scratch, and considering creatively how to turn them into a successful business. I also see it as a design, and judge it on that. I also think making all parties and everyone who is involved happy is an element of what can be said to be a good business model.

AI-Aided Drug Design Service [drug2drugs] (GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD)

Pennington: This arrangement that utilized AI and software to develop new drugs quickly, and furthermore at a low price, was highly rated and won the Good Design Gold Award. Unit 17 for "Business model and method" was an interesting unit. I think it was the one where you could most sense that proposals exceeded the concept of conventional design and broadened the scope. I felt that this "drugs2drugs" was a direct example of this, as it expanded design to the fields of medical care and science.

Ishikawa: The development of new drugs requires a dizzying amount of time and investment. Moreover, the probability of success is low. It was wonderful that they developed this method from scratch. Fuji Film was also chosen for this year's Grand Award. We clearly sensed that they had come together as an organization and worked hard on design. Fuji Film has switched from a film manufacturer to a cosmetics, medical care and medical and pharmaceutical products manufacturer, incorporating design. I think it would be good if we appreciated the changeover itself as a business model.

Tachikawa: Speaking of Fuji Film, Astalift cosmetics is a successful example of a company reexamining its resources and developing them. From there, they have been expanding into other areas. I think it shows there's a possibility for other Japanese companies to also make a comeback using the same way of thinking.

Book Store [BUNKITSU] (GOOD FOCUS AWARD [ New Business Design])

Ishikawa: This is a bookstore where you can stay as long as you like if you pay the 1,500-yen entrance fee. There are no new books put out, but there is a unique selection. As there is a charge for entrance, it becomes a motivation and creates an impetus to pick up books you wouldn't usually pick up, which produces some unexpected encounters. Books also sell better than in existing bookshops, and they are also doing good business with the food and drink. It combines a business model with a place to encounter a variety of knowledge and a new experience. I hear they are going to increase the number of stores even more in the future.

Bookstore Hotel [Hakone Honbako] (GOOD DESIGN BEST100)

Tachikawa: This is a business model for an accommodation facility that packages accommodation and the chance to meet a variety of books together as a set. You can stay for a long time and experience books, and even buy them. This is a new proposal from a bookshop, and I think it's an example of the transformation of a bookshop's business model. It's the embodiment of the result of a company's swift response to the sense of crisis that they have in regard to the existing framework.

Pennington: Looking at this from a European perspective as a British person, I think this is a very elegant Japanese design. It's directly confronting the issue of survival of the retail trade, and it's a design that I think all European companies could learn something from.

Business Model [FinTech Service -Saving the World's Poor] (GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD)

Ishikawa: This is an arrangement that utilizes IoT technology to allow poor people who can't obtain credit to get a loan so that they can buy a car. An IoT device is attached to the car so that it can be remote controlled, and it runs as long as the monthly payments are made. The car stops running if the payments are overdue, so it's a system that can demand payment and prevents irrecoverable debts. This is also being carried out in certain rural areas of Japan.

Tachikawa: The bought car becomes a means of earning money. This enables them to borrow money. FinTech was also used and I thought this was a powerful project. It would be even better if the visual communication was a little bit easier to understand. As they've gone to the trouble of doing a good thing, it's important that they prepare branding and visuals so that they can communicate more widely.

Framework [A diagram of business model]

Ishikawa: This is a book that makes you think about what a business model actually is. It provides explanatory diagrams of various business models, and it's significant that they have made it available to the public as a toolkit that everyone can use.

Pennington: The design is beautiful and the explanatory diagrams of the business models are wonderful. It would have been even better if they had showed you how to use this book by demonstrating ways to develop an actual activity.

Conclusion: A time where the future is created by business model design

Tachikawa: Business design can open a new route to things that were impossible to connect up to now. Arrow symbols are not just one way, but also two-way, and the thickness may also vary. I think design can be used to supplement this and make it easier to communicate.

Hirota: Currently there are many applications that use business design to create new arrangements to solve problems, but I think it would be good if there was a leap in thinking to consider "what would be most ideal for the near future?" and what we need to do to realize that. I think we're probably approaching a time where the future is created by business model design.

Pennington: Among this year's applications, there were relatively few with a perspective related to the environment, sustainability or other climate change issues. I hope that the system design viewpoint will be applied to this area. It will be good if there is an increase in applications for this genre next year.

Ishikawa: When talking about sustainability, you also need a perspective about how to run a long-loved company. I think design is needed for the people working there, the contents of the work, and even the company's reason for being itself. When thinking about a new business, I want people to incorporate thinking that imagines what the scene will be like for themselves in 5 years and 10 years' time.