Designing a Visual Inquiry Tool for Business Model Innovation

This article explores the critical role of visual inquiry tools (VITs) in overcoming cognitive barriers to business model innovation (BMI), especially within the context of digital innovation. While existing tools have shown promise, they often fall short in addressing the specific cognitive barriers tied to business model transformation and lack a theoretical foundation. To bridge this gap, we followed the principles of design science research and design theory and designed the “transformative strategic thinking” (TST) tool. The TST tool is a VIT designed to facilitate BMI by stimulating the creative thinking abilities needed to challenge the dominant business model logic and experiment with alternative scenarios. In this article, we present the main phases of our design journey.