On August 9, 2022, we released PURPOSE MODEL STUDIO, a web tool for making Purpose Model diagrams on screen, as a beta. It is also introduced in the book "Purpose Model: How to Build Co-Creation That Engages People" (Gakugei Shuppansha), released in the same month.

What a Purpose Model is

A Purpose Model is a blueprint of a co-creation project centered on its purpose. You write the project name and the shared purpose in the center of a circle and the stakeholders involved on the outside, and fill in the role and purpose of each. A single sheet shows what kinds of people are involved, with what intentions, and how.

Stakeholders are color-coded by four attributes: citizens, companies, government and experts. The upper and lower halves of the circle have different meanings, and the co-creation partners who are actively involved go in the lower half.

How to use it

  1. Open purposemodel.zukai.co and enter the project title
  2. Add a piece with the "+" button and drag it into the frame in the center. A piece is the area for one stakeholder
  3. Choose the attribute by color and enter the stakeholder's name, role and purpose. The text you enter is placed in the diagram automatically
  4. Add frames for pieces and repeat for the number of stakeholders. Pieces can be swapped, moved between the upper and lower halves, and put back
  5. Save the finished diagram as an image with the "Export image" button

You can also enter the same items in Excel or Google Sheets, copy them all and paste them in to make the diagram automatically.

Limits at the time of release

  • It worked in Google Chrome on a computer
  • The tool had no function for saving a diagram inside it. For picking up and revising later, we suggested entering the data in Excel or a spreadsheet and importing it again

Both have since changed. With the June 2026 update, the tool also works in Safari, Firefox and Edge on a computer, and on smartphones and tablets. What you draw stays in the browser, so you can pick up where you left off, and you can save a model to a file and load it again. In July 2026 it became available in English.

The detailed steps are set out in the note article "Let's make a Purpose Model! A manual for PURPOSE MODEL STUDIO" (in Japanese). At the same time, we also updated the Purpose Model Toolkit.

Details