We address the value of engaging stakeholders in energy and mobility transitions by using models. As a communication medium, models can facilitate the collaborative exploration of a future between modeling researchers and stakeholders. Developing models to engage stakeholders requires an understanding of state-of-the-art models and the usability of models from the stakeholder perspective. We employ mixed methods in our research. We present the overview of models that have been proposed to make sense of the transitions in the scientific literature through a systematic literature mapping (n = 105). We interviewed 10 stakeholders based in The Netherlands to elaborate on use cases in which models can benefit stakeholders in practice and the characteristics of usable models. We conclude our research by elaborating on two challenges of model design that modeling research can consider to engage stakeholders. First, we argue that understanding the epistemic requirements of both modeling researchers and stakeholders that models can simultaneously meet is crucial (e.g., questions addressed using models and assumptions). Second, we seek technical solutions for producing models in a time-wise manner and developing interfaces that allow models distant in formalism and represented phenomena to communicate in tandem. Our research creates awareness of the model design aspect by considering its usability.