Model complex service systems using tactile paper figures to reveal relationships, gaps, and innovation opportunities.
Business Origami uses paper cutouts to physically model service ecosystems, mapping actors, touchpoints, and information flows collaboratively.
Business Origami is a collaborative, hands-on workshop method that uses paper cutouts to physically model the elements of a service ecosystem. Participants create and arrange small paper figures representing people, organizations, devices, channels, and touchpoints on a shared workspace to map out how a service system operates. Developed at Hitachi Design Center, this method makes abstract business relationships tangible and accessible to non-designers, enabling diverse stakeholders to contribute meaningfully to system-level thinking. Service designers, product teams, and organizational strategists use Business Origami to explore complex multi-actor systems such as healthcare delivery, financial services, or supply chain processes. The tactile nature of the method encourages experimentation -- participants can easily add, remove, or rearrange elements to explore alternative scenarios and discover hidden dependencies. By physically building a shared model, teams develop a common language for discussing service complexity and can identify optimization opportunities, failure points, and innovation possibilities that would be difficult to surface through discussion alone.
Start by determining the problem to solve or the goal to achieve through Business Origami. Understand the business objectives, user needs, and the situation or context for which the method will be applied.
Form a diverse team of stakeholders, designers, and users to work together on the problem. Gather required materials, such as paper cutouts, sticky notes, pens, and a large workspace, to accomplish the workshop session.
Identify key elements in the problem or system, such as users, processes, devices, and environments. Create paper cutouts representing each element, and note down their attributes and relationships on the cutouts.
Construct a physical model by placing and arranging paper cutouts representing various elements on a shared workspace. Explore and discuss different scenarios by rearranging the elements, highlighting connections, and their relationships.
Invite team members to actively engage and participate in modifying or proposing alternative arrangements to the model. Encourage them to analyze the user experience and discuss opportunities or challenges arising from different configurations.
Document the physical model, either through photography or digital tools. Refine the model based on insights gathered from discussions and by exploring trade-offs among different arrangements. Record the team's learnings, recommendations, and next steps.
Iterate on the refined model and re-examine the relationships among the elements to uncover unaddressed issues or opportunities. Validate the refined model with real users or stakeholders to ensure alignment with their needs and business objectives.
Translate the findings from the Business Origami method into actionable insights for UX design or process improvements. Ensure that these insights inform strategic decision-making, design choices, and communication across teams.
After a Business Origami session, the team will have a shared physical model of the service ecosystem that makes visible the relationships between actors, touchpoints, channels, and information flows. Participants will have identified key dependencies, bottlenecks, and failure points in the current system, as well as opportunities for innovation and optimization. The session will produce photographic documentation of both current-state and future-state models, a list of actionable insights for service improvement, and alignment among diverse stakeholders on system-level priorities. Teams typically leave with a much deeper understanding of service complexity and concrete next steps for design and strategy work.
Create your own cutout templates or find them online for different types of service system elements.
Document the process using photographs or video recordings to track the evolution of ideas and discussions.
The facilitator should encourage discussion, ask about ambiguities, and work to understand the entire service system.
Use different colored paper or shapes to distinguish between element types such as actors, channels, and touchpoints.
Start with the current state before exploring future possibilities to build shared understanding first.
Keep elements small enough that participants can easily move and rearrange them during the session.
Include hidden elements like backend systems and partner organizations, not just customer-facing touchpoints.
Use string or yarn to visualize information flows and relationships between elements on the workspace.
Including only customer-facing touchpoints misses critical backstage operations. Ensure backend systems, partner organizations, and internal processes are also represented in the model.
Jumping straight to future-state visioning without understanding the current system leads to unrealistic proposals. Always map the existing system first to ground innovation in reality.
Overloading the workspace with elements creates confusion. Start with core actors and touchpoints, then gradually add complexity as the team builds shared understanding.
Without active facilitation, dominant voices take over and quieter participants disengage. The facilitator should ensure all perspectives are heard and probe for hidden relationships.
Failing to photograph each version of the model loses the evolution of ideas. Capture snapshots at key decision points to preserve the reasoning behind design choices.
Plan outlining objectives, activities, and materials for the workshop.
Paper cutouts representing users, tasks, interfaces, and other elements.
Visual models showing interactions and flows between service components.
Descriptions of how users interact with the system based on workshop insights.
Documentation of findings, pain points, opportunities, and recommendations.
Photos capturing workshop stages, configurations, and system map evolution.