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THE 1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ITC 2023
August 30 - September 2, 2023
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Editor: Valeri Souchkov
Organized by
The International TRIZ Official Association MATRIZ Official
Graz University of Technology, Austria
Higher College for Engineering Wolfsberg, Austria
ISSN: 2950-5224
ISBN: 978909038076
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
2
Proceedings of the 1st MATRIZ Official International TRIZ Conference ITC-
2023
August 30 - September 2, 2023
Organized by the International TRIZ Official Association – MATRIZ Official.
319 pages.
ISSN: 2950-5224
ISBN: 978909038076
Editor: Valeri Souchkov, TRIZ Master
The collection of papers «Proceedings of the 1st MATRIZ Official International TRIZ Confer-
ence ITC-2023».
The conference is intended for TRIZ specialists and users: academics, engineers, inventors,
innovation professionals, and teachers.
The present book of Proceedings includes papers related to the research and development of
TRIZ, best practices with TRIZ, cases of practical application of TRIZ, and issues of TRIZ
training and education.
Series «Proceedings of the MATRIZ Official International TRIZ Conferences”.
ISSN: ; ISBN:
© Copyright: 2023, International TRIZ Official Association – MATRIZ Official.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys-
tem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, re-
cording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Prepared and Published by the International TRIZ Official Association – MATRIZ Official,
Rue Copernic 48, Brussels, Belgium
www.matriz-official.net
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
3
ITC-2023 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Dr. Stephane Savelli, MATRIZ Official Executive Director: The Organizing Committee Co-
Chair.
Dr. Oleg Feygenson, TRIZ Master, MATRIZ Official President
Dr. Stefan Vorbach, Graz University of Technology, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs &
Head of Institute of General Management and Organization.
Mr. Jürgen Jantschgi, Headmaster Higher College for Engineering Wolfsberg: local Austrian
MATRIZ Official contact.
Mr. Valeri Souchkov, TRIZ Master: Co-Chair of the Program Management Committee.
Dr. Simon Litvin, TRIZ Master: Chairman of the TRIZ Master Certification Council
(TMCC).
Dr. Oliver Mayer, TRIZ Master, MATRIZ Official Board Member.
Ms. Olga Krashennikova: Vice President on TRIZ in Education
Ms. Alexandra Stoiser-Velardi, Graz University of Technology, Institute of General Manage-
ment and Organization: ITC-2023 secretary.
ITC 2023 PAPERS REVIEW COMMITTEE
Dr. Oleg Abramov, TRIZ Master, Russia
Dr. Robert Adunka, TRIZ Master, Germany
Dr. Jerzy Chrzaszcz, TRIZ Master, Poland
Dr. Huan-Chu Huang, TRIZ Master, China
Mr. Victor Fey, TRIZ Master, USA
Dr. Oleg Feygenson, TRIZ Master, South Korea
Mr. Alex Lyubomirskiy, TRIZ Master, USA
Dr. Oliver Mayer, TRIZ Master, Germany
Mr. Horst Naehler, Germany
Mr. Alexey Pinyaev, TRIZ Master, USA
Mr. Tanasak Pheunghua, Thailand
Dr. Stephane Savelli, Belgium
Dr. Yong Won Song, TRIZ Master, South Korea
Mr. Valeri Souchkov, TRIZ Master, The Netherlands
Mr. Hongyul Yoon, TRIZ Master, South Korea
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
4
Dear TRIZ lovers!
After four years of online events, the first International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023 by
MATRIZ Official and Graz University of Technology has been held in the beautiful city of
Graz, Austria. The conference was organized in a hybrid mode. Therefore, those participants
who were not able to come physically, enjoyed the conference sessions online.
MATRIZ Official was established only a year ago (September, 2022) as a non-profit organiza-
tion operating worldwide and legally registered in Brussels, Belgium as the International TRIZ
Official Association (MATRIZ Official), asbl. The main tasks of our association include further
development of TRIZ as a theory and its proliferation worldwide; providing a world-class five-
level certification for TRIZ practitioners; development of creative and critical thinking skills
for people in every age category, regardless of their field of activity. The International TRIZ
Conference ITC-2023 proves that we are performing our tasks successfully!
A conference program started with three tutorials. Then, a unique event – “Solve It on the Spot
Session” was conducted. During this session, participants collaborated under the guidance of
TRIZ Master to address technological and inventive problems. Within three days, four out-
standing keynote presentations were delivered with a great success. All details of tutorials,
problem solving session and keynotes are available on the website of MATRIZ Official.
Of course, there were multiple sessions for paper presentations. A verity of topics discussed in
the papers and a good number of case studies confirm a high interest to TRIZ development and
application worldwide. These conference proceedings are published under ISBN and ISSN of
Graz University of Technology.
I am very grateful to the Organizing Committee of ITC-2023, all speakers and participants. You
have made this conference happened!
Enjoy reading these proceedings, learning and applying TRIZ.
Oleg Feygenson, Ph.D., TRIZ Master
President, MATRIZ Official
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sorted alphabetically by the first author name
A MATRIZ OFFICIAL MEMBER INTRODUCES ITSELF: EUROPEAN
TRIZ CAMPUS E.V.
8
Barbara Gronauer, Robert Adunka, Oliver Gerundt, Bernd Haussmann, Oliver
Mayer, Horst Nähler, Jochen Orso
TRIZ AND PRACTICAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
16
Boris Zlotin and Alla Zusman
TRIZ-BASED SOFTWARE AS A FRONT-END TO AI CHATBOTS
30
Boris Zlotin and Alla Zusman
RESOLVING CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEEN FUNCTIONALITY
AND USABILITY IN TECHNICAL SYSTEMS
42
Hemant Pardikar
DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR
TRIZ MODELLING TOOLS BASED ON CIRCULARITY AND SDGS
53
Horst Nähler, Barbara Gronauer, Karl Koltze, Bruno Scherb
IMPERCEPTIBLE DETECTION OF FLUORESCENCE – TOWARDS A
PROOF-OF-CONCEPT PROTOTYPE
67
Jerzy Chrząszcz
CAUSE AND EFFECT CHAIN ANALYSIS - THE ESSENCE OF
UNDERSTANDING WHERE THE PROBLEM OCCURS. CASE STUDY
80
Jerzy Obojski
“CREATE PRODUCTS". A GAMIFICATION CONCEPT WITH TRIZ
ELEMENTS FOR VET SCHOOLS IN AUSTRIA
93
Jürgen Jantschgi, Wolfgang Pachatz
RESOURCE ANALYSIS FOR HIDDEN THREATS IDENTIFICATION
104
Kirill Domkin
SOLVING TRIZ PROBLEMS WITH TRIZ
108
Malgorzata Przymusiala
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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PIONEERING BORNEO TRIZ AND FURTHER PROLIFERATE
KNOWLEDGE WITH REMOTE LOCATIONS
116
Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer, Tan Eng Hoo, Awangku Merali Pengiran
Mohamed
WHO NEEDS TRIZ CONSULTANTS: A CASE STUDY
125
Oleg Abramov, Natalia Tomashevskaya, Alexander Medvedev, Konstantin
Rumiantsev
CONSIDERING INFORMATION AS A LEGITIMATE COMPONENT IN
TRIZ-BASED FUNCTION ANALYSIS
134
Oleg Feygenson, Naum Feygenson
USING SUSTAINABILITY MODELLING WITH TRIZ IN PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO EMBED SUSTAINABLE GOALS
142
Oliver Mayer, Uwe Schaumann
TRIZ IDEAS IN A SYSTEMATIC PRESENTATION
154
Petr Shimukovich
APPLYING THE THEORY OF INVENTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
(TRIZ) TO POLICY MAKING: IDENTIFYING COMPLEX POLICY
PROBLEMS AND GENERATING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS.
164
Prasanna Bhagwan & Ashutosh Prachand
CREATING A LEARNING PULL - TRIZ FOR BUSINESS &
MANAGEMENT USE CASE
176
Prashant Y. Joglekar
FUEL SAVING WINGLETS - TRIZ USE CASE
187
Prashant Y. Joglekar
TRIZ APPROACH TO INNOVATION PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS
198
Simon S. Litvin
SPACE-TIME-PARAMETER OPERATOR FOR ADVANCED
FUNCTION ANALYSIS
208
Stéphane Savelli, Oleg Y. Abramov
LEVERAGING GENERATIVE AI AS A RESOURCE FOR
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL IN TRIZ PROBLEM SOLVING AND
IDEA GENERATION
222
Tanasak Pheunghua
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
7
DEMAND - TREND MATRIX: QUICK ROADMAPPING FUTURE
INNOVATIONS
237
Valeri Souchkov
INNOVATIVE DESIGN OF HEAT PUMP AIR CONDITIONING BASED
ON TRIZ
243
Xiaofan Su, Jiao Chen, Tianyang Yu , Changsheng Bai, Yamin Zheng
TRIZ TOOL AND FISHBONE DIAGRAM VARIANT
254
Xinming Lu
BUSINESS ORCHESTRATION STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERPRISES BASED ON S-CURVE
260
Zhang Jing, Zhang Heyang, Zhang Xiangmin
Special Section “TRIZ for Education
POPULARIZATION OF TRIZ PEDAGOGY AND CREATIVITY
DEVELOPMENT AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN AND THEIR
PARENTS. ARTISTIC APPROACH
276
Alisa Faer
TRIZ AS A SOURCE OF TOOLS FOR FUTURE EDUCATION
281
Alla Nesterenko
“NATURE HAS NO BAD WEATHER”, OR REASONING ABOUT
ANSWERS TO OPEN-ENDED PROBLEMS
288
Evgenia Gin
CASE-STUDY: USING TRIZ TOOLS TO STREAMLINE LESSON
PLANNING AND PREPARATION AND SAVE TEACHER’S TIME AND
EFFORT
295
Maria Dunaeva
USE OF METAPHORS TEACHING 6-9-YEAR-OLD KIDS TO SOLVE
CREATIVE TASKS USING THE ADAPTED ALGORITHM FOR
CHILDREN
303
Nadezhda Zhuravleva
TRIZ IN EDUCATION: CONTRADICTION OR INTEGRATION
311
Olga Krashenninikova
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
A MATRIZ OFFICIAL MEMBER INTRODUCES
ITSELF: EUROPEAN TRIZ CAMPUS E.V.
Barbara Gronauer*, Horst Naehler**, Robert Adunka***, Oliver Gerundt****, Bernd
Haussmann*****, Oliver Mayer*******, Jochen Orso*******
*TRIZ-Akademie.de, barbara.gronauer@triz-akademie.de
**c4pi / TRIZ-Akademie
***TRIZ Consulting Group GmbH
****Robert Bosch GmbH
*****konzept:WERT
****** Bayern Innovativ GmbH
******* ESB Business School/ Reutlingen University
Abstract
The members of the European TRIZ Campus (ETC) have been learning from and working together with
many honorable members of MATRIZ Official for many years and feel very connected to the official
International TRIZ Association.
To further spread the TRIZ methodology and TRIZ teaching in the European area in the past
12 months the ETC has put a lot of thought in how making TRIZ accessible to a broader audi-
ence and getting more professionals in touch with the methodology was one of the focal points.
To this end, we at the ETC have
• developed new formats such as the "Trainer Day" to support trainers on their way into
practice.
• we have drawn up detailed quality guidelines for the teaching of the TRIZ methodology,
which are intended to provide orientation for the design of training classes and docu-
mentation.
• we strive for exchange with representatives of "neighbouring" methods such as Six
sigma, Lean, DFMA and Design Thinking to indicate synergies and added value among
methods and approaches of different kinds.
• we are testing formats for community building, in order to connect users of all places
more strongly with the TRIZ methodology through communication and information of-
fers. If TRIZ users feel alone in their organizations, the exchange outside their organi-
zation helps them to keep up with the TRIZ methodology. Moreover, the ETC strives to
increase the ability to communicate the benefits of TRIZ-usage inside organizations.
• we discuss, how to reach teachers and students of all age, to make them the unique way
of inventive thinking accessible.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
9
In our paper we want to give other MATRIZ Official members insights and share our experi-
ences and best practices with our fellow MO members.
Keywords: European TRIZ Campus e.V., TRIZ-Trainer, TRIZ-Community
1. Who is the European TRIZ Campus e.V.?
In 2006 the first TRIZ Level 3 course took place in Graz, Austria, run by Sergei Ikovenko.
Among the participants, the desire grew to continue learning the TRIZ methodology and to take
it into the world.
So after the German TRIZ Centre and the Austrian TRIZ Centre, which was already a member
of the former MATRIZ Society, had reduced their activities over time, a few TRIZniks from
Germany and Austria got together and founded the TRIZ Campus e.V. in 2008.
The new association took over the membership number of the Austrian association and set itself
the goal of further spreading the TRIZ methodology in German-speaking countries. The desired
accreditation of new TRIZ trainers in Germany and Austria also required membership in a na-
tional TRIZ organization (non-profit organization) so that it could issue the necessary recom-
mendation letters. The creators of TRIZ Campus e.V. also organized events and publicity for
the TRIZ method in Germany and Austria, such as the TRIZ Conference 2008 in Heilbronn,
2010 in Wolfsburg as well as smaller events that individual members of TRIZ Campus e.V.
realised privately in cooperation with the association.
In 2022, the board of the TRIZ Campus wanted to strengthen the life of the association because
interest in the TRIZ methodology seemed to be declining in Germany and Austria. So the board
asked the members of the association to discuss and collect ideas about which association con-
cept would be promising for the future.
The results of these exchange rounds were, for example:
• the offers should be low-threshold and understandable for people without TRIZ training.
• more exchange opportunities for TRIZ trainers should be offered.
• there should be more discussion on how common management systems in companies
could benefit from the TRIZ methodology.
• and more.
Based on these suggestions, the board developed the previous association into the European
TRIZ Campus e.V. and decided on a new orientation based on the following objectives.
Our objective
The association sees itself as an association of users and interested parties of the TRIZ meth-
odology in Europe. The official languages are German and English.
The purpose of the association is the promotion, dissemination and further development of the
TRIZ innovation methodology in Europe. To this end it aims above all to:
1.1.1 Develop uniform quality criteria at a high level regarding the international state of the art
for the training and application of the TRIZ methodology for all age levels.
1.1.2 Disclose interfaces to other methods such as Six Sigma, QFD, DFMA, Design Thinking,
Lean, etc., develop synergies of the method combinations and publish or communicate them.
1.1.3 Take up future topics of education and training for the promotion and development of
future skills, for the support of sustainability goals (environmental awareness, climate, water,
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
10
innovation, health, education, etc.) as well as digital transformation in further education con-
cepts, training and training documents and develop working aids for this,
1.1.4 Establish and maintain a network of regional and international contacts for TRIZ educa-
tion and application,
1.1.5 Coordinate and conduct further training events and seminars on TRIZ,
1.1.6 Cultivate cooperation with domestic and foreign organizations dealing with innovation-
promoting methods.
1.1.7 Conduct specialist congresses, events and meetings.
2. Our mode of operation
In consultation with MATRIZ Official, the European TRIZ Campus has set itself the task of
testing new formats and approaches for disseminating the TRIZ methodology and sharing the
experience gained with the MATRIZ Official organization.
Since all the active people here are volunteers, we chose the accreditation process and the im-
plementation of the trainer workshop as our first action.
A typical feature of the cooperation in the European TRIZ Campus is the participation-oriented
collaboration: in the case of important open questions, all members are called upon to partici-
pate in the development of ideas and solutions. in this way, the Executive Board and the entire
association benefit from the knowledge of the many, even if the coordination processes are
sometimes somewhat more extensive as a result.
This approach follows the development trend in the organizational cultures of many companies
in the German-speaking world to move from purely top-down decision-making and action to a
participation-oriented way of working.
3. Quality Guidelines
A very important first step for the ETC was the creation of quality guidelines for the certifica-
tion of course participants in TRIZ. In the beginning, the guidelines of the MATRIZ Official
for the levels 1 to 3 were followed very closely. This enables the ETC to also accept participants
who have attended a course according to the guidelines of the international TRIZ Association
MATRIZ Official. The quality guidelines should therefore use the MATRIZ Official guidelines
as a basis but describe them more precisely and offer more freedom for the introduction of new
TRIZ topics.
To be able to describe more precisely to what extent a method should be taught and how deep
the understanding of the method should be at the respective level, the following classification
was developed:
Class
Meaning
A
Knowledge and purpose: method/tool has been briefly introduced and trainees
know what the method/tool is used for
B
Simple applications and purpose: method/tool has been explained and trainees
can apply the method/tool to simple problems (out-of-the-box examples, training
examples)
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
11
C
Complex and/or complicated applications and purpose: Method/tool has been
taught in detail using an example. Trainees know the method/tool very well and
can apply it/it to complicated and complex problems (own project)
For each method, it was specified which scope is expected in which level. Also, in the quality
guidelines for each method, we briefly described what is understood by the method and accord-
ing to which textbooks the method can be taught. We named both English and German refer-
ences for each method. We have made an effort to include books of all TRIZ masters known to
us in this source list. This should make it easier for the trainer to obtain the appropriate books
and references and to build up his training according to them.
In the individual method descriptions, the ETC often allows for more recent developments. For
example, in the 40 inventive principles, reference is made to the more recent MATRIX 2003
and 2010, or to the work of Valeri Souchkov in the functional analyses.
We believe that we have made an important contribution to our trainers with these quality
guidelines, which describe the training levels more precisely and at the same time allow more
freedom in the design.
3.1 Accreditation
At the beginning, the ETC also thought of accreditation as it is common in the international
TRIZ Association MATRIZ Official. The trainer accredits himself for a certain level of training.
Then the thought came up that we don't have to stay with a rigid system here. How would it be
if trainers could choose for which of their favorite TRIZ content they want to get accreditation?
This concept would allow participants to take part in trainings offered by different trainers and
get a Level 1 certificate as long as all topics required for a Level 1 are covered.
Shorter trainings and specific trainings would be possible. This holds the chance to diversify
the offer from TRIZ teachers and to make it more colorful. This is the direction in which the
ETC is currently working. The status is still strongly oriented towards the level structure of the
MATRIZ Official, but this will probably be softened in the next few years.
To ease the entry into TRIZ and the certification of course participants, the ETC has signifi-
cantly reduced the prerequisites and costs for a trainer. For example, it is almost impossible for
professors who hold only one TRIZ course at the university within a year to be certified accord-
ing to the guidelines of the international TRIZ Association, because the expense of accreditation
is disproportionate to the benefit.
We also see a difference between the suitability as a teacher and the own practical knowledge
level in TRIZ. Therefore, at the ETC, a trainer must have learned the entire classical TRIZ
knowledge up to level 3, to be able to better understand cross connections between the methods,
but it is not necessary to always be two levels above the level to be certified.
A trainer must be a member of the ETC and confirms with a declaration of honor that he accepts
the quality guidelines and behaves according to them. Also, he should bring a proof of his
teaching experience. This can either already be provided by his profession (teacher, professor)
or be proven separately with a sample lecture. The board decides whether this is necessary.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
12
One of the central elements of the trainer accreditation process according to the new ETC guide-
lines is the submission of an exemplary test by the trainer candidates including the suggested
solutions for the respective TRIZ level.
These exemplary tests are then reviewed by some ETC members to ensure conformity with the
quality requirements. The main topics of the review process are the topics:
• Is the submitted test suitable for testing the respective TRIZ level?
• Is the curriculum of the respective level covered?
• Is the test an obvious copy of an existing test, which is not allowed?
• Is the candidate's own contribution recognizable?
• Are the suggested answers correct?
Each test question is categorized by the ETC members in terms of their taxonomy (1. Knowing
facts - pure memorization; 2. Understanding - justifying with own words; 3. Applying - imple-
menting the content of the course with practical examples) and according to the level of com-
plexity (1. Easy question; 2. Moderate question; 3. Difficult question). Lastly the members de-
cide whether the question must be discussed with the candidate or if the question can be added
to the ETC catalog of accreditation questions.
The feedback of the ETC members is submitted to the candidate and will then be discussed in
an accreditation meeting.
All of the questions are then stored in a ETC database and are marked with CC0 (Public Domain
Dedication) for further use of the questions by the ETC members.
The uniform feedback after the first trainer accreditations according to the ETC guidelines was
very positive. Although the process is somewhat time-consuming and involves a few people, it
was considered very valuable by all involved.
It allowed questions to be discussed and any misunderstandings to be eliminated. It was also
possible to incorporate suggestions and tips from the experienced trainers into the test ques-
tions, and on the other hand, new, interesting questions could be introduced by the new candi-
dates. The community concept, in which everyone learns from everyone else, seems to be pro-
moted in this way. The train-the-trainer concept thus seems to have been a complete success.
Trainers who wish to become accredited with the European TRIZ-Campus or who wish to re-
new their accreditation are required to attend the Trainer Workshop at regular intervals. The
exact requirements are described in the accreditation guideline.
Furthermore is the aim of the trainer workshop to get to know colleagues, learn from each other
and thereby enrich one's own way of working.
In the trainer workshop, trainers present:
• Didactic or methodological examples
• Their own training concept with documents, examples, procedure, exemplary chapter, ...
• "How can others benefit from my knowledge?"
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
13
• "What happened to me?" - Successes and "fuck-ups"
and get feedback from the participants.
Here we present the agenda of the first trainer workshop as an example:
18.00-18.15 Welcome round, current programme of the workshop, explanation of the feedback
rule.
18.15-18.45 1st trainer presentation: Jochen Wessner, Functional analysis - learning poster and
introductory example, feedback via mentimeter, followed by oral exchange
18.45-19.15 2nd trainer presentation: Jürgen Moosburger, A Sytsematic Ideation Approach at
ams Osram, feedback via mentieter, followed by oral exchange
19.15-19.45 3rd trainer presentation: Joachim Runck, TRIZ course revitalisation by means of
KAHOOT quiz, feedback via mentimeter, followed by oral exchange
19.45-20.15 hrs 4th trainer presentation: Andreas Späth, TRIZ methodologies as tools for stra-
tegic analysis - experiences from a course, feedback via mentimeter, followed by oral exchange
The moderated meeting took place online.
The first trainer workshop went very well. The schedule was well adhered to and the written
feedback was collected for the presenters via Mentimeter. Both the presentations and feedback
will be made available to all members.
The feedback from our participants was all very positive. They welcomed the "exciting per-
spectives and contributions", the "mix was great" due to the "different topics" of the speakers
and they were all happy to learn and benefit from each other's experiences. So we will continue
the Trainer Workshop with this concept in November.
During the final round, the wish was expressed that a regular meeting without an agenda would
be a great opportunity, for example, to clarify questions about moderation and to discuss more
about procedures in trainings and workshops. Therefore, a first ETC regulars' table will take
place in the next few weeks.
4. TRIZ and other methods in the context of innovation management
One of the goals we have set is to combine TRIZ with other valuable tools for driving innova-
tion. TRIZ has its absolute power in solving problems in the technical area, business wise or
partwise in the analysis of a value propositions. The understanding of customer thinking is a
weak point in the methodology. Tools like Design Thinking, Scrum for execution or Business
Canvas for Business and Value propositions on a higher-level business are very helpful. The
idea is to seek out for interfaces between TRIZ and other tool applications in order to have the
best overall fitting systematic approach for the task given in daily research and professional
life.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
14
For example, with Design Thinking we can find out how people are using a product, how are
they operating it, how are they feeling with it. TRIZ can then help finding root causes, identi-
fying problems, and solving them. Backwards after implementation of a solution the effect /
improvement can then be tested with Design Thinking as observation of different usage behav-
ior by a customer.
With the implementation of solutions created with TRIZ usually a process for high quality.
requirements come along. Here tools like SixSigma are very helpful. While applying SixSigma
you often meet challenges, contradictions and problems with then again can be solve with TRIZ.
Future challenges will be to solve problems occurring from sustainable product / process de-
signs or from resilience analysis of companies. Here as well TRIZ can play an important prob-
lem-solving role. It is very often the case that not all the TRIZ tools are needed, but only parts
of them, the ones that are correlating with the challenge. Nevertheless, identifying these inter-
sections is key.
We intend to identify the definition of these intersections for data exchange and for tool merging
to combine TRIZ with other tools, where it makes really sense as a valuable add on for the total
topic of optimal innovation creation.
Fig. 1. “Early stages of product development” (GEGR, Munich) and “Options of method
combinations”
4.2.2 The process of ideation
Sometimes it is simple - TRIZ helps to find the right questions.
Ideas often need a kind of inspiration – this inspiration could be given as a goal oriented ques-
tion or an example of a working system. But nevertheless, it needs to be asked.
The different tools of TRIZ leads the developer and their teams to exactly do that.
However, it is important to apply the right tools at the right time to reach the development target
effectively on the one hand and to save valuable time of the participants on the other hand.
Contradictions also exist within the development process.
So, sometimes it is important to involve a moderator which is not involved in the development
process but leads the team through the process.
Moderation skills as given i.e. VAVE seems to be more and more important.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
15
4.2.2.1 The process of ideation towards the IDEAL
Ideal means Benefit divided by Expenses (Costs) + Problems.
𝐼 = 𝐵
𝐸(+𝑃)
As an additional further tool TRIZ could be enlarged with tools like DFMA/EVI which leads
to a first idea of possible expenses without going into detail calculation. This perspective could
lead either to additional questions (and new ideas) or describing new requirements for partners
and suppliers. This path is purposeful because creating ideas without thinking of the denomi-
nator in the fraction is only half the job.
5. Conclusions
Reviving the European TRIZ campus has taken some effort. But in the meantime we are pleased
with the success of the map. We have the impression that in this way we can succeed in inspiring
even more people for the TRIZ method and ensure a high standard in TRIZ training.
Acknowledgements
We thank all TRIZ Masters, MATRIZ Official and the previous MATRIZ organization for the
great support, the opportunity to learn and develop the methodology.
References
1. European TRIZ Campus e.V. Bylaws (www.triz-campus.eu)
2. European TRIZ Campus e.V. Accreditation Guidelines, 2022 (www.triz-campus.eu)
Communicating Author: Barbara Gronauer, hallo@barbara-gronauer.de
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
16
The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
TRIZ AND PRACTICAL ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
Boris Zlotin and Alla Zusman
Ideation International Inc
Abstract
Today’s environment could be characterized by the following recently emerging factors: the rising com-
plexity of our world, Practical Artificial Intelligence, and growing demand for intelligent products.
Attempts to create Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems began with the creation of the first computers in
two directions:
Algorithmic programs (Turing machines) modeling explicit (rational, logical) thinking using verbal de-
scriptions and methods of logic and mathematics.
Artificial neural networks (ANN) modeling tacit (non-verbal, subconscious, intuitive) component, in-
cluding creativity.
Unfortunately, despite a certain level of success, today's ANNs still have plenty of weaknesses because
of non-obvious errors in their basic design and methods of their training, which lead to insufficient
intelligence of these networks, the inability to additional learning in the process of use and the huge cost
of development and training.
In this paper, we present a new approach allowing for creation of a powerful and affordable Practical
Artificial Intelligence (PAI) that could be achieved via integrating the new artificial neural network with
removed original errors and "rational AI.” We trace the evolution of rational thinking tools, from lan-
guage and writing to computers, and especially the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), as the
breakthrough in the rationalization of human subconscious activity representing the continuous efforts
to convert tacit knowledge and skills of naturally inventive individuals into explicit rules and procedures
via identifying reliable patterns of invention and evolution. This hybrid AI could effectively model the
work of the mind, especially in the search for new, non-standard creative solutions.
An essential step in the creation of TRIZ-based rational AI was the development of a set of software
tools for organizing and supporting creative processes by Ideation International Inc., specifically the
design of the first AI-enabled Ideation Problem Formulator® and a new type of artificial neural network,
PANN, developed with the help of TRIZ by Progress, Inc. Today, we envision an upcoming new, sig-
nificant leap in the development of PAI based on integrating these tools with AI chatbots to generate
creative solutions and reduce the uncertainty of our world.
To illustrate the practical applications of this approach, we provide examples of how the advanced Ide-
ation Problem Formulator® system, with Refined Directions, can be used as a front-end to AI chatbots
to generate creative solutions. We also highlight selected software modules from Progress, Inc. that can
be utilized for inventing new intelligent products with the possibility of image recognition, comparison,
clustering, classification, search, formation of associative links, approximation, prediction, and other
analytical operations.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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Keywords: TRIZ, AI, ANN, PANN, SuperPrompt, ISQ, SAQ, Problem Formulator, Ideation Process,
TRIZSOFT
1. Introduction
The human thinking process includes two essential components:
• Rational consciousness based on speech and logic, including the ability to reason, cal-
culate, use algorithms of actions, etc.
• Intuition based on subconsciousness, the ability to understand a situation without
words and logical reasoning, make decisions with insufficient information, engage in
creativity, etc.
The following two venues could characterize the history of human civilization:
• The creation of various methods and instruments contributing to improving the think-
ing process – language, writing, formal logic, math, scientific methods, counting de-
vices, and finally, computers.
• Transforming elements of subconscious thinking (intuition, tacit knowledge) into ver-
bally described methods, processes, and algorithms (explicit knowledge).
Attempts to create Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems began with the creation of the first com-
puters in two directions:
• Algorithmic programs (Turing machines) modeling explicit (rational, logical) thinking
using verbal descriptions and methods of logic and mathematics.
• Artificial neural networks (ANN) modeling tacit (non-verbal, subconscious, intuitive)
component, including creativity.
While the evolution of Turing machines has been successfully proceeding, ANN hasn’t been
so lucky, mainly because of the approach, based on the attempt to reproduce the intuitive activ-
ities of the human brain without sufficient knowledge of its complex and, in many aspects,
unknown nature. In 1943 American scientists McCulloch and Pitts created a model of intuitive
perception ("MP machine") based on limited knowledge available in biology at that time. Based
on this model, in 1958, Rosenblatt built the first ANN named "perceptron,” which became the
first tool to support intuitive thinking and the precursor of all modern neural networks.
Unfortunately, despite the first successful attempt at building ANN, the limitations of the orig-
inal model and non-obvious errors in their basic design and methods of their training led to
insufficient intelligence of these networks, their inability to additional learning in the process
of use, and the massive cost of development and training. As a result, the evolution of ANN
was slow and distorted for an extended period.
In the last dozen years, with the efforts of hundreds of thousands of engineers and scientists
worldwide and enormous costs, ANN reappeared as a fast-evolving technology. However, they
remain an “elite product, " costly in development and use, unreliable, and potentially dangerous.
At the same time, substantial progress in modeling intuitive creative activities was made in the
mid-1990s by Genrich Altshuller, the creator of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving
(TRIZ) [1].
The main reason for his success was a brand-new approach to creativity, suggesting that instead
of copying the human way of thinking, reconstructing the creative output using refined human
innovation experience documented in patents and other sources of technical information
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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resulted in identifying patterns of invention and technological evolution. In fact, he started
building an artificial, more streamlined (and economical) way to transform the initial situation
with the problem into the desired solution. The picture below (Fig. 1) shows a complicated and
uncertain natural way of searching for inventive solutions haphazardly and a much more orga-
nized, though still difficult, and only sometimes successful way of inventing based on TRIZ.
Fig.1. Ways of natural and TRIZ-based thinking
For decades, ANN and TRIZ have been evolving in their separate ways, until the last decades
when the authors got involved in developing a new type of ANN – Progress Artificial Neural
Network (PANN) based on the new approach and new model of an artificial neuron. The recent
emergence of AI Chatbots has made clear the following:
• In addition to allowing to clarify the immediate possible future TRIZ evolution to re-
assess its past in the light of AI explosion.
• Mutually beneficial relationship between TRIZ and ANN.
Given the above, we could characterize TRIZ as a contemporary working Practical Artificial
Intelligence (PAI) tool. In the given paper, we will address how ANN benefited from TRIZ and
vice versa.
2. What is Practical Artificial Intelligence?
Unlike Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) which is supposed to rule the world and thus is
becoming a subject of all fears, PAI is a collection of methods and devices invented by people
to support and empower the human way of thinking.
PAI is:
• Artificial, because it has been developed by humans, starting dozens of thousands of
years ago with the emergence of human speech. Its evolution has brought logic, math-
ematics, education methods, science, arts, and informational technologies.
• Practical, because it allowed humanity to dramatically improve everyday life, provid-
ing comfortable housing, sustainable food, transportation, prolonged life span, etc.
Given the above, TRIZ could be considered an important component of PAI development.
While AGI is still a mystery, possibly unattainable, and quite possibly dangerous, PAI can
flourish, especially with the help of TRIZ.
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3. TRIZ for ANN
Throughout human civilization, PAI has supported natural human intelligence with means for
information accumulation, transfer, storage, simple transformation, and more. With the advent
of computers, PAI began penetrating the thinking processes. However, while Turing machines
were quite successful, ANN were lagging.
As mentioned above, one of the main reasons for the long delay in the appearance of PAI was
a wrong model of a biological neuron. The second, and probably more impactful, was the wrong
approach involving an attempt to reproduce a human way of thinking. The enormous complex-
ity of the human brain with many still unknown mechanisms is predominantly responsible for
huge costs and the mysterious nature of how most of the known ANN work.
This serious impediment became quite apparent when the traditional approach to ANN was
analyzed from the TRIZ point of view, specifically from the Patterns of technological evolution
[2].
3.1. PAI and Patterns of technological evolution
One of the Patterns of technological evolution, “Reducing human involvement in technological
systems,” provides rules for successful automation, computerization, and, finally, making the
systems autonomous. Importantly, it warns against typical mistakes people make during this
process – first, trying to automate (computerize) the human way of performing. Unfortunately,
these attempts are rarely successful, like the first locomotive with legs or the first sewing ma-
chine with arms. The reason for these failures is the enormous complexity of even the simplest
living organisms, preventing us from sufficiently understanding the underlined mechanisms of
their operation and consequently successfully reproducing them. The answer to these problems
was the invention of a new way to produce the same results more suitable for automation (com-
puterization), which required a better understanding of the original process.
3.2. Bionics and “technionics“
In the early 1960s, the science of bionics (biomimetics) appeared, proposing to study the fea-
tures of the structure and vital activity of living organisms to use them to create technical de-
vices. Unfortunately, the huge expectations have never come through. Biological mechanisms
are very complex and multifunctional, and an engineer trying to apply a “biological invention”
faces a task similar to the one of a blacksmith of the 16th century, who would suddenly get a
spacecraft “for plunder” and figure out how to use some parts to improve a cart.
While working on a methodology for solving scientific problems [3], we jokingly came up with
a science we called "technionics," which is the reverse of bionics. Its essence is the transfer of
understandable ideas from technology and applied sciences to biology, sociology, psychology,
pedagogy, medicine, art, etc. Once it was defined as such, numerous excellent examples of its
applications have been discovered. This was no coincidence. The technology aims to get the
maximum benefit at the lowest cost, targeting higher Ideality (defined as benefits versus cost
ratio, one of the central premises of TRIZ). The intellect and talent of engineers and scientists,
engineering science and practice, plus TRIZ contribution for the last 60 years, make it possible
to find optimal solutions to various problems.
Over time, "technionics" has become an essential tool in our biological and social evolution
research. But the main benefit it provided in our research on AI and ANN. A continuous cyclical
process arose when the solution of inventive problems in the field of AI made it possible to
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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understand better what biologists wrote about perception, thinking, and intellectual processes,
often making it possible to get answers biologists could not find. And a new understanding of
biological problems helped invent a more straightforward and transparent ANN and AI ...
3.3. Progress Artificial Neural Network (PANN)
The study of ANN using the TRIZ methodology for solving scientific problems made it possible
to identify and correct the earlier mentioned errors of McCulloch, Pitts, and Rosenblatt, con-
sidering more recent biological knowledge. As a result, Progress Artificial Neural Network
(PANN) was built and protected (current count) by 16 patents [4]. Unlike classical artificial
neural networks, PANN is a completely “transparent,” easily predictable system that can be
used and trained by anyone (not necessarily a programmer or engineer). Let's compare the basic
ideas classical ANN and PANN are built on (see below).
Fig.2. Biological neuron model
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Fig. 3. Artificial neuron model
Fig.4. Typical structure
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Fig.5. Simple operational model
4. TRIZ and AI Chatbots
4.1. TRIZSoft®, Innovation Situation Questionnaire® and Problem Formulator®
In the late 1950s, Altshuller prognostically named his creation Algorithm for Inventive Problem
Solving (ARIZ), intended for manual application. During the next three decades, the initially
rather lax algorithm went through multiple improvements, mainly in the direction of strength-
ening and detailing the rules to increase the efficiency and consistency of results obtained by
different users.
Eventually, the time has arrived to build the next parallel artificial way for the problem-solving
and creativity to increase its efficiency further to guarantee innovation success (Fig. 6)
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Fig.6. New artificial way of inventing by utilizing TRIZSOFT®
By the late 1980s, personal computers became available for the TRIZ groups, encouraging the
development of the first TRIZ software (Minsk, Belorussia, project Invention Machine, and
Kishinev, Moldova, project Innovation WorkBench®). Since 1992, when Kishinev TRIZ
School transformed into the US company Ideation International Inc, Ideation has come with
over a dozen professional and simplified software packages
1
.
Ideation software development followed the abovementioned rule from the beginning: a new
technology suitable for this purpose should be developed first for successful computerization.
This technology included the following new tools:
• Analytical:
o Problem Formulator ® (PF)
o Innovation Situation Questionnaire ® (ISQ)
o Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)
• Knowledge-based:
o System of Operators (over 400) for solving technological problems
o Set of Operators (over 100) for solving business, management, logistics prob-
lems, etc.
o Set of Patterns of technological evolution
For the leading platform for the development of TRIZ software, Expert Systems (ES) were se-
lected based on their availability at that time. However, there were differences in the human-
machine interface. For example, while a typical ES would suggest a final recommendation(s)
based on the user’s input, with our software, the user is the one producing the final results
based on the ES recommendations. Oddly enough, this change in the principle of operation
made it possible to move the development from heavyweight programming languages such as
Prologue, Lisp, and CLIPS to the most straightforward use of hypertext languages.
1
See at www.ideationtriz.com.
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TRIZ software became the next critical step in building PAI. An analytical tool Problem For-
mulator (PF) module became the main feature of the TRIZSOFT® family. From its inception
in 1992, it had several “smart” features, including:
• Automatic recognition (highlighting) contradictions.
• Automatic capturing (from the diagram) factors and cause-effect relationships between
them to generate meaningful sentences - Directions for Innovation.
• Automatic conversion of a visual diagram into a comprehensive set of possible Direc-
tions for Innovation.
PF was built to visualize the typical human thinking process and verbalize its results, specifi-
cally when addressing tough challenges. Today we know that all thinking processes in living
organisms are realized via natural neural networks, making the Problem Formulator system a
prototype for an AI-enabled TRIZ-based tool.
Another viable possibility for PAI is using Ideation knowledge-based tools as well-organized
and illustrated knowledge libraries.
Today, considering the AI Chatbots explosion, we have found new value in two other
TRIZSOFT analytical tools: ISQ and its simplified version SAQ.
4.2. Ideation Brainstorming software (IBS) v. 4.x
IBS is an AI-enabled general-purpose tool designed to facilitate the process of generating out-
of-the-box solutions to the most pressing challenges/situations arising in product improvement
and development, business and management, organizational and social development, and more.
The software implements the systematic step-by-step user-friendly Ideation process helping in-
dividuals and teams analyze the challenge/situation at hand and develop a set of possible direc-
tions for solutions (innovation).:
This tool is based on Ideation TRIZ (I-TRIZ) Methodology [5] and is recommended for indi-
viduals and teams involved in problem-solving, innovation, complexity management, etc.
The ideation Process for IBS includes three stages:
• Completing Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) (a set of specifically selected
questions optimizing the search for creative solutions).
• Generating Directions for Solutions and Brainstorming.
• Concept Development.
4.3 AI Chatbots
According to Wikipedia, AI chatbots are artificial intelligence (AI) systems capable of main-
taining a conversation with a user in natural language and simulating how a human would be-
have as a conversational partner. Such technologies often utilize aspects of deep learning and
natural language processing. One of the first was ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI and released
in November 2022. Chatbots are being built based upon broad foundational large language mo-
dels that get fine-tuned to target specific tasks or applications (i.e., simulating human conver-
sation, in the case of chatbots). Chatbots can also be designed or customized to target further
even more specific situations and/or particular subject-matter domains. Recently, companies
spanning various industries have begun using the latest generative artificial intelligence tech-
nologies to power more advanced developments in such areas.
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The first experiments with ChatGPT-3 and 4 were both exciting and confusing. In practically
any response from ChatGPT, some information was made-up and n false. Besides various bi-
ases, the quality of responses has shown a strong dependence on the quality of the answers,
giving birth to numerous offers of prompts and SuperPrompts – specifically structured sets of
standard phrases proven to contribute to higher-quality responses.
Given the above, we have constructed an exploratory case study using Ideation Brainstorming
software as a SuperPrompt for using ChatGPT for problem-solving.
4.4. Exploratory Case Study. Using IBS v.4 as a SuperPrompt for AI Chatbots
4.4.1 The purpose and the method
The study intended to explore the effectiveness of using IBS software as a SuperPrompt (front-
end) to AI Chatbots. The study consisted of two parts:
Part 1. Working with Ideation Brainstorming software (IBS) 4.x., including:
• Completion of the Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).
• Using the Problem Formulator to build the Diagram and generate Directions for Inno-
vation (Solutions).
Part 2. Three sessions with ChatGPT-4, including uploading information produced with the
help of IBS outputs, as follows:
• Session 1 – the original problem statement.
• Session 2 – completed Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).
• Session 3 – three selected Directions for Innovation (Solutions) with Refined Direc-
tions
2
.
Obtained suggestions for each session with ChatGPT-4 have been divided into the following
groups:
• General (obvious)
• Useful or somewhat useful
• Interesting or creative.
4.4.2 Summary of the results
The summary
3
of the results is shown below.
2
Refined Directions are more specific recommendations within Directions for Innovation (Solutions)
generated by the Problem Formulator. See more in [6].
3
See edited ChatGPT suggestions in the full report here: https://docs.google.com/presenta-
tion/d/1q7msyD4aodzMMBdUfh3S0rCsO8mv-hVT/edit?usp=shar-
ing&ouid=102498674467750091976&rtpof=true&sd=true
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Table 1. Summary of the recommendations provided by Chat-GPT-4 for IBS
Session
#
Session Description
Number of ChatGPT recom-
mendations
Total
Gene-
ral
(obvi-
ous)
So-
mewhat
useful
Inte-
res-
ting
(cre-
a-
tive)
1
Original problem situation
4
1
3
0
2
Completed SAQ
7
2
5
0
3
3 selected Directions (from 14 available)
7
0
6
1
1. The number and especially the quality of the ChatGPT-4 recommendations steadily increased
with the continuous use of software outcomes.
2. Just 3 of the 14 directions almost doubled the number of total ideas (7/4) compared to the orig-
inal problem statement.
3. The interesting (creative) recommendation provided by the ChatGPT-4 during Session 3 (using
the Direction for Innovation generated by Problem Formulator with Refined Directions) was
close to a 100% solution developed earlier by the TRIZ professional team.
5. AI Chatbots as a new platform for TRIZ dissemination
During almost 80 years since TRIZ inception, it had its ups and downs, including:
• Low visibility for the first 40 years, practically no recognition from the Soviet govern-
ment or academic world.
• Rising popularity in the former USSR in the early 1980s due to some support from
government agencies involved in implementing the Value Engineering technique that
have been convinced of the utility of using TRIZ for its creative stage. Another reason
was the emergence of commercial activities after Perestroika.
• Quite a demise of TRIZ utilization after the crash of the USSR in the early 1990s,
causing immigration of many leading TRIZ professionals to the West.
• Rising popularity of TRIZ in the USA as “The Next Big Thing” after many popular
quality techniques lost their bizazz and numerous consultants were looking for a new
field to earn their bread.
• Despite some successes with Fortune 500 companies and limited TRIZ dissemination
in Europe and Asia, TRIZ hasn’t become “The Next Big Thing” in the 21st century.
While considering TRIZ as a real breakthrough in making innovation and creativity teachable
and thus attainable for the masses, our first commercial experience of implementation of TRIZ
in its classical form has forced us to think of a better platform, like developing software to
support TRIZ activities making it easier to learn and use.
The TRIZSOFT family developed by Ideation has proved to be appreciated by professional
innovation consultants. However, the software platform they were built upon still required
much work. Although with the software, a TRIZ beginner could learn the basics and start uti-
lizing TRIZ after a 3-day workshop (versus 3-4 weeks of intensive learning and several years
of practicing to become self-sufficient with classical TRIZ), the barrier to getting involved was
still high. Plus, of course, various cultural, organizational, etc. issues which are out of consid-
eration for this paper.
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Analysis of the patterns of success of software-based products has produced, besides others, the
following example.
We were introduced to our first electronic mail developed by AT&T by the end of 1992. It was
not exactly user-friendly (based on the DOS operating system), but we had to learn it to com-
municate with American partners of our newly established Ideation International. Soon AT&T
got competitors; however, it didn’t make sense to switch as they used the same platform, and
the improvements, if any, couldn’t justify spending time learning them. The situation changed
dramatically around 1995 when Microsoft released its first Windows product, and the new
email service America Online was introduced. Practically in no time, it was spreading like fire.
Its use became so simple that new customers exceeded the company’s capacity.
As mentioned earlier, TRIZ software was built on the Expert Systems platform. For the last two
decades, we have been waiting for a new platform to make TRIZ use easy. It was clear that it
must be some widely available AI product. Our latest experience with ChatGPT, with all its
deficiencies, confirmed that our expectations were correct. Based on this experience, we up-
graded our Ideation Brainstorming software v.3 to version 4. to make it a possible front-end
(SuperPrompts) to AI Chatbots and to use them together as a powerful brainstorming tool for
general-purpose problem-solving.
As mentioned earlier, IBS 4.x is an analytical tool with an outcome in the form of automatically
generated Directions for Innovation (Solutions). There are now three ways for the user to pro-
ceed:
1. Conduct traditional brainstorming with the project team.
2. Continue working with the Operators (Innovation knowledge bases in the professional
Ideation software).
3. Upload the Directions in an AI Chatbot, get responses, and continue working with
suggested recommendations.
While as a “partner,” ChatGPT-4 is convenient and well-learned (although not really smart nor
always correct), it has shown one additional and rather significant advantage: working with it
is fun and much more exciting than trying to squeeze more ideas from the tired brain or clicking
one screen after another in the software.
ChatGPT has also produced a good collection of materials that, in many ways, can replace or
at least drastically reduce and simplify the search for information in projects, as it generates and
maintains a wealth of associations. This will undoubtedly greatly help engineers educated in a
narrow field (like most graduates of American universities). This can significantly raise the
routine or semi-routine work level, making creativity less necessary. Again, this is consistent
with the contemporary engineering culture in big corporations: "The best solution is the one
you can buy on the market."
After experimenting with IBS 4.x, we are about to release the next version of the software to
take more advantage of the new platform, including the possibility to easily upload and down-
load the inputs and outputs to a chatbot of the user’s choice. As the next step, we are planning
web-based software.
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6. Conclusions
1. Today, various AI Chatbots became available to help find solutions to complex chal-
lenges. However, the usefulness of a Chatbot response strongly depends on the quality
of the questions.
2. The study aimed to explore the effectiveness of using Ideation Brainstorming Software
(IBS 4.x) as a SuperPrompt (front-end) to AI Chatbots.
3. The study has shown that the number of useful and especially interesting (creative) so-
lutions was steadily increasing from 3 in Session 1 (uploaded original problem) to 7 in
Session 3 (uploaded Directions for Innovation with Refined Directions).
4. The ChatGPT-4 suggestion in Session 3 was very close to the best idea generated by
TRIZ professional team.
5. The study results have confirmed that using IBS 4.x as a SuperPrompt (front-end) to
AI Chatbots could be beneficial, especially as it could compensate for the known defi-
ciencies of available Chatbots.
6. The results have also confirmed that the many members of the Ideation TRIZ software
family TRIZSOFT® built on the platform of Expert Systems are reasonably compati-
ble with AI Chatbots, which could become a critical event in the evolution of TRIZ
becoming a new platform that can substantially increase TRIZ utilization worldwide.
7. Although AI chatbots so far are limited in delivering creative solutions, they compete
with TRIZ experts to a certain extent. At the same time, the study showed the possibil-
ity of the emergence of something like a "Socratic dialogue" as part of a brainstorming
session that clarifies the situation. That makes integration of Chatbots with TRIZ soft-
ware a real necessity.
8. Another potential benefit to check could be using Chatbots for clustering ideas and
concept development.
9. IBS software is available for a free 15-day trial (get it here : http://oldsite.idea-
tiontriz.com/download/setups/ibs5-15/ibs5.html) and subscription. Also, see a modi-
fied version of SAQ that could serve as a general-purpose SuperPrompt to AI chatbots
for problem-solving (Appendix 1).
10. The next generations of the IBS are in the pipeline and will be available soon.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to extend their gratitude to:
Dr. Rada Granovskaya (1929-2022), a great friend and colleague – a world-renowned scientist
and practitioner in psychology (psychology of creativity and innovation in particular) for ex-
plaining how our Problem Formulator technology reflects typical problem-solving thinking.
A global team of TRIZ-trained professionals that dedicated their time and efforts to find ways
to use Ideation TRIZ to help organizations and individuals address various challenging situa-
tions and navigate the hardships and complexity caused by pandemics worldwide, especially
the following members:
• Boudewijn Bertsch
• Bob King
• Dr. Sadegh (Ben) Babaii
• Dr. David Bonner
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
29
References
1. Altshuller G. “Creativity as an exact science”. Translated by Anthony Williams. Gordon and
Breach Science Publishers. 1984.
2. Zlotin B. and Zusman A. “Directed Evolution: Philosophy, Theory and Practice”. Ideation
International Inc., 2001.
3. Zlotin B. and Zusman A. “TRIZ Based Tools for Knowledge Creation”. Proceedings of the
annual TRIZ Conference of the Altshuller Institute for TRIZ Studies TRIZCON 2002.
4. US patents: 11494653 B2, 2022; 10423694, 2019; 9619749, 2017; 9390373, 2016. Also
patented in Japan (7041078, 2022; 6382354,2018), Israel (247533,2019), Taiwan (I655587,
2019). China (ZL201580012022.2, 2018), Mexico (MX357374B, 2018, Hong Kong
(HK1227499, 2019), Singapore (11201608265X, 2019), Eurasia (035114, 2020), Korea (10-
2166105, 2020), Europe (EP3114540, 2021), Canada (2941352, 2022).
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Proceedings of the International TRIZ Conference ITC 2023: August 31, September 1-3, Graz,
Austria.
Appendix 1. Ideation Universal Problem-solving SuperPrompt (UPSS)
Name the system your situation relates to (product, process, technology, organization, etc.).
Describe:
1. Your challenge/situation, preferably in a single phrase.
2. The Primary Objective(s) of the situation resolution.
3. The system's components and structure. Be sure to indicate all essential elements and how
they are connected.
4. What the system was designed for, and how it works.
5. Other systems that interact with your system.
6. The most challenging issue you are facing in pursuing your objective. If there is more than
one, try to list them in order of importance.
7. The factors responsible for this challenge.
8. The consequences if the challenge is unresolved.
9. Previous attempts to resolve the challenge. State the reasons why these attempts were consid-
ered unsuccessful.
10. The ideal solution, that is, how the completely satisfactory situation should look like.
Optional. Describe:
1. The degree of changes your system can allow (small, medium, substantial, unlimited).
2. Measures for success.
3. Other factors (entities, people, conditions, regulations, etc.) that could be useful or should be
considered while addressing the situation/challenge/objective.
Communicating Author: Alla Zusman, azusman12@ideationtriz.com
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
30
The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
TRIZ-BASED SOFTWARE AS A FRONT-END TO
AI CHATBOTS
Boris Zlotin, Alla Zusman
Ideation International Inc, USA
Matej Hohnjec
3ZEN d.o.o. Slovenija
Abstract
This paper explores the benefits of utilizing TRIZ-based software as a front-end module (SuperPrompts)
for AI chatbots.
The creation and further development of TRIZ since the mid-1940s should be considered the first suc-
cessful attempt to build an artificial (parallel) way of solving inventive problems and creativity in gen-
eral. However, for the first 40-50 years, TRIZ AI was handicapped by the absence of a critical compo-
nent – an adequate software platform. The first attempt to develop software to support TRIZ procedures
was made in the late 1980s; however, they were limited to the computerization of selected TRIZ
knowledge-based tools and provided no more help than a conventional electronic book, with no actual
intelligent features.
The next critical step was made in the early 1990s with the development of new software modules de-
veloped by Ideation International, including extended and restructured knowledge-based tools and
brand-new analytical tools like Innovation Situation Questionnaire® (ISQ) and especially the Ideation
Problem Formulator®. It provided the first TRIZ-based AI features like automatic recognition of con-
tradictions and the generation of comprehensive sets of meaningful sentences describing promising di-
rections for solutions (innovation), incorporating Ideality. Following these directions, the user could
reach the most relevant sections of the refined and structured knowledge base facilitating idea generation
based on suggested analogies.
Over 30 years of using these tools by thousands of users have shown that the most challenging and time-
consuming parts of software-supported problem-solving were idea generation and concept evaluation.
Recently, the solution to these issues could be utilizing two new emerging technologies: AI chatbots
and PANN, a new type of artificial neural network developed with the help of TRIZ by Progress, Inc.
The presentation will demonstrate the benefits of utilizing Ideation analytical tools as a front-end module
for AI chatbots for a real problem-solving project. Specifically, the presentation will compare different
results obtained by downloading a) the original problem statement, b) the completed ISQ filled for this
problem, and c) the directions for solutions generated by the Ideation Problem Formulator®.
Keywords: TRIZ, AI, SuperPrompt, ISQ, SAQ, Problem Formulator, Ideation Process, IBS, ESAM
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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1. Introduction
Since the mid–20th century, two independent branches of science have been developing – Arti-
ficial Neural Networks (ANN) and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ).
Unfortunately, despite the first successful attempt at building ANN, the limitations of the orig-
inal model and non-obvious errors in their basic design and methods of their training led to
insufficient intelligence of these networks, the inability of additional learning in the process of
use, and the massive cost of development and training. As a result, the evolution of ANN was
slow and distorted for an extended period. Just in the last dozen years, with the efforts of hun-
dreds of thousands of engineers and scientists worldwide and enormous costs, ANN reappeared
as a fast-evolving technology.
At the same time, substantial progress in modeling creative activities was made in the mid-
1990s by Genrich Altshuller, the creator of TRIZ [1].
The main reason for his success was a brand-new approach to creativity, suggesting that instead
of copying the human way of thinking, reconstructing the creative output using refined human
innovation experience documented in patents and other sources of technical information re-
sulted in identifying patterns of invention and technological evolution. In fact, he started build-
ing an artificial, more streamlined (and economical) way to transform the initial situation with
the problem into the desired solution.
For decades, ANN and TRIZ have been evolving in their separate ways, until the last decades
when the authors got involved in developing a new type of ANN – Progress Artificial Neural
Network (PANN) based on the new approach and new model of an artificial neuron. The recent
emergence of AI Chatbots has made clear the following:
• In addition to allowing to clarify the immediate possible future TRIZ evolution to re-
assess its past in the light of AI explosion.
• Mutually beneficial relationship between TRIZ and ANN.
Given the above, we could characterize TRIZ as a contemporary working Practical Artificial
Intelligence (PAI) tool [2].
At the same time, for the first 40-50 years, TRIZ PAI was handicapped by the absence of a
critical component – an adequate software platform. The attempts to develop software to sup-
port TRIZ procedures started in the late 1980s (Minsk, Belorussia, project Invention Machine,
and Kishinev, Moldova, project Innovation WorkBench®
4
). Since 1992, when Kishinev TRIZ
School transformed into the US company Ideation International Inc, Ideation has come with
over a dozen professional and simplified software packages
5
.
From the beginning, Ideation software development focused on developing a new technology
suitable for the purpose of successful computerization. This technology included the following
new tools:
• Analytical – helping analyze the initial problem situation and formulating directions
for solutions:
o Problem Formulator ® (PF)
4
® - Registered trademark of Ideation International Inc
5
See at www. ideationtriz.com
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
32
o Innovation Situation Questionnaire ® (ISQ)
o Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)
• Knowledge-based – knowledge extracted from patents and other sources of infor-
mation representing the best innovation practices:
o System of Operators
6
(over 400) for solving technological problems
o Set of Operators (over 100) for solving business, management, logistics prob-
lems, etc.
o Set of Patterns of technological evolution.
2. Ideation Problem Formulator® - AI-enabled Analytical Tool
• Ideation Problem Formulator (PF) is a general-purpose AI-enabled analytical tool to
convert complex situations into a comprehensive set of Directions for solutions (inno-
vations), in particular:
o Presenting problem situations in cause-effect relationships visualized on a dia-
gram.
o Besides functions, it can operate with any meaningful factors (parameters,
flows, conditions, objects, etc.).
o Allowing for visual re-organization and analysis of the diagram, unveiling (and
correcting real-time) various discrepancies, mistakes, missing factors, and con-
nections.
o All the above using plain language.
Problem Formulator (Fig.1.) has the following AI-enabled features:
• Automatically recognizes and highlights contradictions.
• Automatically converts a visual diagram into a comprehensive set of possible Direc-
tions for Innovation (solution paths) by:
o Using cause-effect relationships between factors depicted on the diagram.
o Capturing (from the diagram) factors and cause-effect relationships between
them to generate meaningful sentences - Directions for Innovation (Solutions).
• Automatically provides more detailed solutions paths within the generated Directions
(suggesting Refined Directions
7
and/or relevant groups of Operators).
6
Operator – generalized term for an Inventive principle, Standard solution or Method as indicated in
Classical TRIZ. It stands for a recommendation for a change to the existing system that has a potential
to resolve the problem.
7
Refined Directions - more specific recommendations within Directions for Innovation (Solutions)
generated by the Problem Formulator. See more in [3].
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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Fig.1.Problem Formulator interface
3. New Ideation Software to Work as a Front-End (SuperPrompts) to AI Chatbots
Two Ideation software have been developed recently with the purpose of simplified and more
user-friendly interface and compatibility with newly introduced AI Chatbots:
• Ideation Brainstorming software (IBS) – a general-purpose AI-enabled analytical tool
to convert complex situations into a comprehensive set of directions for solutions.
• Express Situation Assessment and Management (ESAM) – an AI-enabled analytical
tool to address complex situations characterized by one or more of the following ele-
ments of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity. Ambiguity).
Both software have similar properties as follows:
• Based on Ideation TRIZ (I-TRIZ) methodology.
• A component of Ideation Office of Innovation and Complexity Management Tools.
• Ideation Process includes three stages:
A. Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)
B. Generating Directions for Solutions (Innovation) and Brainstorming (Using
Problem Formulator®)
C. Concept Development
Effective as a SuperPrompt for AI Chatbots.
The software interface is shown below (Fig.2).
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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Fig.2. IBS or ESAM software interface
4. Ideation Situation Assessment Questionnaire
The Ideation Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) is a simplified version of the Innova-
tion Situation Questionnaire® (ISQ)
8
. SAQ is a set of questions shown below (Fig.3).
Fig.3. List of SAQ questions
A list of the questions above that is convenient to use as a SuperPrompt while working with AI
Chatbots is available in Appendix 1.
5. Case Study. The purpose and the method
1. The study intended to explore the effectiveness of using Ideation’s new software as a Su-
perprompt (front-end) to AI Chatbots.
2. The study has two parts:
• Working with IBS or ESAM software, including:
o Completion of the Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).
o Using the Problem Formulator to build the Diagram and generate Directions
for Innovation (Solutions).
• Three sessions with ChatGPT-4, including:
o Session 1 – working with the original problem statement.
o Session 2 – completed Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).
o Session 3 – working with selected Directions for Innovation (Solutions) with
Refined Directions.
3. Obtained suggestions for each session with ChatGPT-4 have been divided into the follow-
ing groups:
8
ISQ is an analytical tool designed to create a comprehensive picture of the original problem situation,
a module of the professional problem-solving software Innovation WorkBench®.
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• General (obvious).
• Useful or somewhat useful.
• Interesting or creative.
6. Case Study 1. Using Ideation Brainstorming Software (IBS) with ChatGPT-4
6.1 Original problem description
Sheets of highly- pure copper are produced via the following electrolytic process: A piece of
regular copper is placed into a tub containing electrolyte and connected to the d-c source's
positive anode. A “seed” of pure copper is also put into the tub and is connected to the nega-
tive electrode (cathode). When current is applied, copper ions migrate from the anode and de-
posit on the cathode, while impurities precipitate to the bottom of the tub.
During this process, electrolyte enters the
small pores that have developed on the
surface of the copper sheets. The sheets
are then stored before being shipped, dur-
ing which time the electrolyte evaporates
from the pores, leaving oxide spots on the
surface of the copper. These spots detract
from the product’s appearance, reducing
its value and resulting in substantial
losses.
To avoid this, the sheets are washed to re-
move the electrolyte from the pores before storage. Due to the small size of the pores, it is
difficult to remove all the electrolyte. Besides, it increases costs and requires additional time.
Thus, the problem was: How can the washing process be improved?
6.2.1 Step A. Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)
See the completed SAQ in the full report.
6.2.2. Step B. Generating Directions for Solutions and Brainstorming
1. Building the Diagam
9
See the full IBS report here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1q7msyD4aodzMMB-
dUfh3S0rCsO8mv-hVT/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102498674467750091976&rtpof=true&sd=true
Producing Pure Copper
+
++
++
++
++
++ Sludge
Anode
Cathode
Ions
Electrolyte
Pores
Electrolyte in
pores
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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Fig.4. Diagram depicting the cause-effect description of the problem
2. Generate Directions
Directions generated – 14 (see in the full report).
6.3 Directions selected for uploading to ChatGPT-4
2. Find a way to eliminate, reduce, or prevent Electrolyte escapes from pores in order to avoid
Spots on the surface under the conditions of Electrolyte trapped in pores.
Refined Directions: Find a way to counteract Electrolyte escapes from pores.
6. Find an alternative way to obtain Reducing current that offers the following: eliminates,
reduces, or prevents Pores in copper does not influence Productivity.
7. Resolve the contradiction: Reducing current should be provided to counteract Pores in cop-
per and shouldn't be provided to avoid counteracting Productivity.
Refined directions:
• Try to provide Reducing current at one zone and not to provide at another.
• Try to provide Reducing current at one time and not to provide at another.
6.4 Summary of the results
The summary
10
of the results is shown below.
Table 1. Summary of the recommendations provided by Chat-GPT-4 for IBS
Session
#
Session Description
Number of ChatGPT recommendations
Total
General
(obvious)
Somewhat
useful
Interesting
(creative)
1
Original problem situation
4
1
3
0
2
Completed SAQ
7
2
5
0
10
See edited ChatGPT suggestions in the full report.
Deterioration of
product
appearance
Electrolyte
escapes from
pores
Spots on the
surface
Electrolyte
trapped in pores
Pores in copper
Reducing current
Washing
Increases cost
Revenue
Losses
Removing
electrolyte from
pores
Productivity
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3
3 selected Directions (from 14 available)
7
0
6
1
4. The number and especially the quality of the ChatGPT-4 recommendations steadily increased
with the continuous use of software outcomes.
5. Just 3 of the 14 directions almost doubled the number of total ideas (7/4) compared to the orig-
inal problem statement.
6. The interesting (creative) recommendation provided by the ChatGPT-4 during Session 3 (using
the Direction for Innovation generated by the Problem Formulator with Refined Directions) was
close to a 100% solution developed earlier by the TRIZ professional team.
7. Case Study 2. Using Ideation Express Situation Assessment & Management
(ESAM) software with ChatGPT-4
7.1 Original problem description
A panic letter from a CEO of a mid-size paint-producing company received in early 2021:
"2021 is a terrible year for the paint industry. I’m not being dramatic. It is probably the worst
year ever. Certainly, worse than the Covid year of 2020. This is not simply in terms of finan-
cial results, although you can see the results are worrisome.
In fact, the problems arise from the collision of myriad industry, economic and social issues,
most of which you have heard about in the media. The paint industry seems to be an industry
close to the locus of these many issues, due to our reliance on inputs from all over the eco-
nomy, and the world.
1 - Our pricing was lagging material cost increases by ~75 days, though we have fixed that. It’s
a LOT of work to update hundreds of POs and prices after orders have been entered. We in-
centivized customers to place orders ASAP, and we told them we’d hold prices to the time of
order. Honestly, we were too slow to raise prices, stuck in the mindset that we help our cus-
tomers.
Bad idea, in hindsight. Not to mention the insufficient cover for LIFO “expenses.”
2 - Our production schedule is rarely able to be met. We are daily being delayed or denied raw
materials, packaging, and deliveries, with a host of downstream consequences. We have can-
celed dozens of customer POs that have no hope of being made or shipped during the 2021
paint season. We are challenged to manage limited storage space, combined with the uncer-
tainty that we will be able to get next month’s raw materials, so take extra today.
By the way, these matters exist at our suppliers and our customers, though that is little comfort
to our people."
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7.2 ESAM: Ideation Process for the Paint company supply chain issues
11
7.2.1 Step A. Situation Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)
See the completed SAQ in the full report.
7.2.2 Step B. Generating Directions for Solutions and Brainstorming
1. Building the Diagam
Fig.5. Diagram depicting cause-effect description of the problem
2. 2. Generate Directions
Directions generated – 19 (see in the full report).
7.3 Direction selected for uploading to ChatGPT-4
11. Find a way to eliminate, reduce, or prevent company prices lagging under the conditions
of PO updates take time.
Refined Directions:
• Find a way to remove or modify the source of company prices lagging.
• Find a way to counteract company prices lagging.
• Protect your system company prices lagging.
• Increase your system’s resistance to company prices lagging.
• Convert company prices lagging into benefit.
11
See full ESAM report here https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rbDm-
jzQ0ambPTk8ivzKQPY1bf0a6kdg/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102498674467750091976&rtpof=true&sd=true
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
39
7.4 Summary of the results
The summary
12
of the results is shown below.
Table 2. Summary of the recommendations provided by Chat-GPT-4 for ESAM
Session
#
Session Description
Number of ChatGPT recom-
mendations
Total
Gene-
ral
(obvi-
ous)
So-
mewhat
useful
Inte-
res-
ting
(cre-
a-
tive)
1
Original problem situation
6
4
2
0
2
Completed SAQ
7
4
3
0
3
One selected Direction (from 19 available)
5
3
1
1
4
The same Direction with refines
15
5
7
3
1. The number and especially the quality of the ChatGPT-4 recommendations steadily increased
with the use of the software outcome.
2. Just one of the 19 directions produced more than double the total ideas (15/6) from the origi-
nal problem statement.
3. Interesting (creative) ideas have been obtained with the use of Directions for Innovation (solu-
tions) produced by the Problem Formulator with Refined Directions).
8. Conclusions
1. Today, various AI Chatbots became available to help find solutions to difficult challenges.
However, the usefulness of a Chatbot response strongly depends on the quality of the questions.
2. The purpose of the study was to explore the effectiveness of using Ideation Brainstorming
Software (IBS 4.x) and Express Situation Assessment (ESAM) as SuperPrompts (front-end) to
AI Chatbots.
3. The study results have shown that the number and especially the quality of the ChatGPT-4
recommendations steadily increased with the sequential use of the software outcomes.
4. The study results have proved the use of IBS and ESAM software as Superprompts (front-
end) to AI Chatbots beneficial, especially as it could compensate for the known deficiencies of
available Chatbots.
5. Ideation AI-enabled Problem Formulator® software module is the most effective tool to ad-
dress challenging situations. From its inception, Problem Formulator had several “smart” fea-
tures, including:
• Automatic recognition (highlighting) contradictions.
12
See edited ChatGPT suggestions in the full report.
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40
• Automatic capturing (from the diagram) factors and cause-effect relationships between
them to generate meaningful sentences - Directions for Innovation.
• Automatic conversion of a visual diagram into a nearly exhaustive set of possible Di-
rections for Innovation.
6. Problem Formulator is the main feature of TRIZSoft®, the Ideation Family of TRIZ-based
Tools, including Ideation Office for Innovation Tools and Complexity Management.
7. Problem Formulator module can be especially beneficial for complex situations, which are
often combinations of less complicated partial problems; the difficulties are in numbers, nu-
merous, often unclear interconnections, unknown patterns, etc. Clarity of the situation (meaning
understanding the nature and completeness of the list of partial problems) could be more im-
portant than the use of traditional problem-solving tools, as well-defined partial problems in
complex life-related situations could often be resolved using a combination of common sense
and related professional knowledge and/or experience.
8. IBS and ESAM software are available for a free 15-day trial (get IBS here: http://oldsite.ide-
ationtriz.com/download/setups/ibs5-15/ibs5.html) and subscription.
Acknowledgments
Dr. Rada Granovskaya (1929-2022), a great friend and colleague – a world-renowned scientist
and practitioner in psychology (psychology of creativity and innovation in particular) for ex-
plaining how our Problem Formulator technology reflects typical problem-solving thinking.
A global team of TRIZ-trained professionals that dedicated their time and efforts to find ways
to use Ideation TRIZ to help organizations and individuals navigate the hardships and complex-
ity caused by pandemics worldwide, especially the following members:
• Boudewijn Bertsch
• Bob King
• Dr. Sadegh (Ben) Babaii
• Dr. David Bonner
References
1. Altshuller, G. “Creativity as an exact science”. Translated by Anthony Williams. Gordon and
Breach Science Publishers. 1984.
2. Zlotin, B. and Zusman, A. “TRIZ and Practical Artificial Intelligence”. Proceedings of the
International TRIZ Conference ITC 2023: August 31, September 1-3, Graz, Austria.
3. Zlotin, B. and Zusman, A. “New Developments in the Application of TRIZ to Solving
Problems in Complex Systems”. ETRIA World Conference TRIZ Future 2022, 27-29
September 22, Warsaw, Poland and online.
Appendix 1. Ideation Universal Problem-solving SuperPrompt (UPSS)
Name the system your situation relates to (product, process, technology, organization, etc.).
Describe:
1. Your challenge/situation, preferably in a single phrase.
2. The Primary Objective(s) of the situation resolution.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
41
3. The system's components and structure. Be sure to indicate all essential elements
and how they are connected.
4. What the system was designed for, and how it works.
5. Other systems that interact with your system.
6. The most challenging issue you are facing in pursuing your objective. If there is more
than one, try to list them in order of importance.
7. The factors responsible for this challenge.
8. The consequences if the challenge is unresolved.
9. Previous attempts to resolve the challenge. State the reasons why these attempts
were considered unsuccessful.
10. The ideal solution, that is, how the completely satisfactory situation should look like.
Optional. Describe:
6 The degree of changes your system can allow (small, medium, substantial, unlimited).
7 Measures for success.
8 Other factors (entities, people, conditions, regulations, etc.) that could be useful or
should be considered while addressing the situation/challenge/objective.
Communicating Author: Alla Zusman, azusman12@ideationtriz.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
RESOLVING CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN
FUNCTIONALITY AND USABILITY IN
TECHNICAL SYSTEMS
Hemant Pardikar
Independent TRIZ professional. Pune, India
Abstract
TRIZ has strong focus on functionality which is its core concept.Apart from functionality, usa-
bility is receiving lot of attention of designers of Technical systems.It would be interesting to
know how functionality and usability interact and what is required for the two togeather to
create superior technical systems.
This paper explores the nature of usability, how it comes into play in technical systems, why
usability is important, how the usability- functionality contradictions originate and how they
are different from other contradictions,what are some typical usability-functionality contradic-
tions and methods of resolution. Lastly the inter-linking between functionality evolution, tech-
nology dispersal usability and aesthetics.
Keywords: Technical systems, Functionality, Usability, Aesthetics, Technology dispersal.
1. Introduction
Functionality of a technical system (TS) is one of the core concepts which contributes to build-
ing of the edifice of TRIZ.
TRIZ looks at functions rather than components of TS delivering those functions to arrive at
breakthrough solutions for contradictions in TS to make them more efficient, simplified, cost
efficient etc.
But how the functionality perceived or accessed by individual users during their interaction
with the TS, is an area which needs more analysis and discussion.
There could be an implicit assumption that, firstly, functionality in a TS automatically increases
its usability. Secondly there is no significant difference in accessing functionality of the TS by
different individuals. Thirdly access to functionality is independent of the context in which the
TS is being accessed.
There is no reason to assume that all individuals can access all TSs with same efficiency and
under all circumstances.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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Usability is that attribute of a TS which allows its intended user to access the functionalities of
the TS correctly, with ease, efficiency and satisfaction.
Many functionally superior TSs have been rejected by the users because latter found using the
TS cumbersome, tedious or functionality getting constrained in the context (super system envi-
ronment) in which the TS is used.
Nancy Goodwin in her paper on functionality and usability[1] quotes of an instance of when an
advanced communication system in a military was rejected as it was found too combursome by
users who resorted to use of telephones.
Over a period of time designers of TSs in very diverse areas are finding need to resolve usability
issues for success of the TSs.
There have been some attempts in addressing the topic of interface between TRIZ and Usa-
bility [2] [3] [4].This paper attempts to initiate more discussion of Usability in the structure of
TRIZ by discussing linkage between usability and functionality.
2. Functionality
It is well understood by the users of TRIZ. Functionality of a TS is its ability to change or
maintain certain parameter of another object (target) which belongs to its super system.
As per one of the laws of evolution of technical systems- the law of systems completeness, there
are 4 parts to any TS. The working unit- which provides the required function, the energy unit,
the transmission unit and the control unit.
Figure1: Super systems of a Technical system.
Three parts among these interact with the super system, i.e the working part, the Energy part
and the Control Part.
The working unit acts on the Object(Target) part of Super system.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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The Energy unit receives energy from a source in the super system.
The ‘control’ part is the third one which interacts with super system.
There is also super system of TS life cycle as detailed in figure-1.
There is detailed discussion in TRIZ literature on super-systems of Energy, Super-system of
Object (Target) and Super-system of TS lifecycle. But Super System of control is a less ex-
plored area. What are its constituents and how they interact with the TS and other super-sys-
tems?
Following is a simplified version of Super system of Control discussed in section on Human
Technical system Interaction (HTSI) below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
User
Fig.2. Super-system of Control of a TS
Control unit
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3. Human Technical system Interaction (HTSI)
Sometimes humans are present at all 3 nodes of TS(Energy,Target/Object,Control) which in-
teract with the supersystem(like bicycle),in others at control and target nodes (like automobiles)
or at control and energy (like all human powered TS).
But humans are present at control node of ALL technical systems.
This is true even of automated TS. These systems are programmed by humans to select infor-
mation, modify it, make the subsystems work by themselves to deliver the required func-
tion.The entire automation is done by humans and the role of latter shifts to supervision and
over-riding control as the automated system performs its job.
It would be unrealistic to assume that human-TS interaction which happens at the ‘control in-
terface’ works always perfectly for all technical systems under all conditions.
The HTSI does not happen seamlessly. Humans understand TS through multiple filters of Per-
ception, cognition which are internal to them and social, cultural which are external. All this is
filtered into rational and emotional responses of varying type and degree and that goes into
motor skills which then interact with the technical system.
The challenge for the designers is how to design TSs so that humans can engage efficiently and
easily with them through constraints imposed by the above human limitations.
One extreme example of such design is the Dentist’s chair and subsystems associated with it.
These have evolved to reduce kinematic load of dentist and the patient .They enable better
usability of dentist’s main tool –the drill. Latter has evolved very little over years.
Thus only study of Functionality may not be enough to make superior technical systems which
can be market leaders getting wide acceptance from users and making a difference to human
life.
4. Usability
The concept of usability is not as concrete as that of functionality.
It can vary with the users. Even for a single user it will vary over time as she gets more familiar
with ways in which the TS works.Training in use of TS also makes it more usable.
Usability is contextual and can be understood only in the context in which the user is working.
For example, ‘remote’ for some air-conditioners do not have touch activated LEDs so they have
low usability at night as barely awake user fumbles to see the buttons in the darkness.
Following are the five characteristics which TSs having usability have (as per ISO9241-
11:2018) [5]
• Error Tolerance: Prevents serious errors. Warns of erroneous action. Helps reversi-
bility of wrong action wherever possible. Support available for troubleshooting.
• Effectiveness :Supports user to complete the task accurately. Makes user aware of the
processes at every stage.
• Efficiency: User can perform task quickly through easiest process.
• Ease of learning : New user can understand working of the TS easily. There is sup-
port throughout the usage.
• Engagement: User finds it comfortable pleasant to use.
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Automation can increase usability in TS where a single function to be performed is complex
and puts large demands on human faculties. But usability issues get transferred to the pro-
graming and control levels of automation. They are not eliminated- they change form and lo-
cation (This has prompted software industry to study usability closely).
For TS with diverse multiple functions (of which Smartphone is an extreme example), auto-
mation can improve usability only to a certain extent.
The most important test of usability of a TS is how quickly it allows the user to internalize its
functions at one’s subconscious level as compared to other competing TSs.
This is similar to experience one has while driving car. Though one may be engrossed in con-
versation with a fellow passenger one is driving carefully and attentively.
The perception, cognition and bodily movements required for efficient control of the TS hap-
pen at sub conscious level of the user with minimal expenditure of physical and mental en-
ergy.
(Usability testing and Anticipatory failure analysis from usability perspective is not discussed
here due to space constraint)
Importance of Usability: It is very important for success of a TS as compared to competing
TSs for following reasons:
• User is able to complete task faster and with more accuracy. This leads to satisfaction
and prevents frustration and confusion among users and creates trust.
• It helps to improve performance and productivity.
• It can result in brand loyalty, brand reputation and enhance customer acquisition and
retention.
• Thus usability can give competitive advantage, increase revenue and profits.
Even if a TS is without competition, usability issues create user resistance in adoption who
resort to older and (inefficient or costly) ways more due to familiarity and past comfort.
An internet service provider in India provided WIFI and TV channels in a single feed had ob-
vious advantage of eliminating DTH subscription and save costs for the user. But the com-
pany found strong user resistance as access to different options through their ‘remote’ (where
HTSI happens) was found complicated and not intuitive. The company lost the first mover’s
advantage.
Usability-functionality contradictions: Usability-functionality (U-F) contradictions (con-
flicts) happen at the HTSI because of the limitations of User in understanding and accessing a
TS through various filters as explained in section 2 above.
Makers of the TS have strong understanding of how the TS works but an incomplete or sketchy
insight of how the target user may engage with the TS and in what context. (They may even
assume that the task of accessing the TS functionalities as a trivial matter). On the other hand
user has incomplete or sketchy mental model of how TS works and so can have major concerns
in accessing the TS. User takes for granted that context of usage and his own limitations are
well understood by makers of TS.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
47
This is the source of all U-F contradictions.
Familiarity (and/or training) may help user to better use the TS in case of U-F conflicts but it
does not eliminate the conflicts.
For example, a vacuum cleaner had ‘Start/Stop’ button and ‘eject dust bag’ button side by side
and of same color and size. Differentiator was alphabets on the buttons. In-spite of familiarity
and long usage, the error of pressing the ‘Eject’ button instead of ‘Stop’ can happen anytime
while using the appliance.
All the U-F conflict happen when the TS does not have one or more of the 5 criteria of usability
described earlier.
Few examples:
• In case of vacuum cleaner described above-a basic TS-has a U-F conflict because of
poor effectiveness (poor support to the user to complete task accurately).
• If the consequences of wrong use of TS is very high, even simpler technical systems
become much less usable because of reluctance of users as they fear making mis-
take.Medical syringes are simple and easily available TS but rarely used by ordinary
individuals. In this case error tolerance of user is very low.
• High cognitive load from the super system (like driving on busy highway, during mili-
tary operations, Nurses attending patients in an ICU) makes TS less usable. In these
cases there is low engagement due to high super system load and low error tolerance
due to high negative consequences of error.
U-F contradictions have some unique characteristics.
• These occur only in the context of HTSI.
• They occur due to human limitations internal to human mind and constraints imposed
by external circumstances which reside in super system.
• These are not individual agnostic (as functionality contradictions tend to be).
• These occur only in certain context.
• A functionally perfect technical system can have one or more U-F conflicts (example
of vacuum cleaner given above).
The most common U-F conflict happens in case of complex TSs having varied functionalities-
with an intent to make them more usable in different ways. But that increases controls (buttons,
knobs, levers, dials, screen, data and so forth) and that increases the load of cognition and timely
action on the user. This makes the TS less usable because of human limitations as discussed
earlier.
There is tendency among TSs to increase functionality and also merge with other systems. Thus
this U-F conflict is increasingly seen in TSs and bound to increase in future.
This conflict or contradiction is typical physical contradiction and can be resolved by separation
principles. Separation in relation (controls related to a single function, housed nearby with sin-
gle color coding and/or shape). Separation in space (modules of different functions separated
to avoid errors), Separation in time (different controls can be activated only in a certain se-
quence) etc.
In case of U-F conflicts with high super system load, many times satisfaction of opposite re-
quirement is used in different ways.
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48
For example, In India a major mode of retail payments is by scanning QR code with a payment
app in smartphone. In busy shops and restaurants, the cashier wants to check on his smartphone
if payment is received but there is no time due to rush of customers. So a device with voice
prompt (using auditory signal instead of visual) was provided by a payment company to confirm
receipt of money. It became a runaway hit. Now all banks and payment companies are offering
this option to all traders.
In case of managing a Battle tank or fighter jet in war training in a simulated situation (do it in
advance) is necessary apart from the efficiency of controls-as described earlier-to overcome U-
F contradictions.
Likewise it can be demonstrated that all U-F contradictions can be resolved by TRIZ methods.
Large number of designers from multiple disciplines have already tackled different U-F con-
tradictions successfully.
It is more efficient to take these solutions directly once the U-F conflicts are analyzed for ab-
sence of one or more usability criteria.
Specific tools to address U-F contradictions: Following are some of the ways in which above
criteria have been used by the designers of TS to resolve U-F conflicts (contradictions) [6].
These can be drilled down further.
5.1 Error Tolerance:
• Good Affordance: Characteristics of TS/components that induces only correct use.
• Confirmation: Verification of intent before critical action is taken.
• Warning: Signs, prompts, alarms before imminent danger.
• Minimizing severe consequences of error. This includes the use of ‘weakest link’
(like fuse in an electric circuit).
• Factor of safety: Built in to manage the unknowns or extreme events.
• Redundancy- Using more elements than necessary to avoid failure or promote un-
interrupted usage.
• Reversibility of error wherever possible.
• Good trouble shooting support.
5.2 Effectiveness:
• Ways to reduce the cognitive and kinematic load of the user.
• Clear indication of current status, possible future action and their conse-
quences.
• Constraints on unrelated or disruptive actions.
• Low requirement to remember. Actions can be taken by recognition than re-
call.
• Easiest access to most frequently used and critical functions at all times.
• Usage under diverse conditions.
5.3 Efficiency:
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• Layering – Functionality options are arranged in layers and presented progres-
sively from simplest to advance to avoid information overload.
• Access is graduated in descending level of importance.
• Critical functions are highlighted and can be easily accessed always.
• Minimizing role of short term memory to chunks of 3 to 5 facts at one time.
• Intuitive functionality options.
• Little or no prior preparation required for use of the TS (point and shoot capa-
bility).
• Multiple times usage with minimal need of repairs or servicing.
5.4 Easy to learn
• Matching user’s mental models.
• Using familiarity with earlier technical systems in the structure of technical
system.
• Written, audio visual input for self- learning by users.
• Comprehensive ‘help’ options while working.
• Training (formal/informal)by experts/ influencers
5.5 Engagement: User finds technical system appealing enjoyable and satisfactory to use.
• Error Tolerance, Effectiveness, Efficiency and easy learning would contribute
to satisfaction and enjoyment.
• Appeal comes not just from functionality but aesthetics especially where multi-
ple options of the same TS are available.
• Branding and advertisements.
6. Aesthetics and usability
The TS should not only be functional and usable but it should appear friendly and inviting as
compared to other competing systems and trigger an instant positive emotional response.( Ap-
plicable wherever HTSI is involved).This is particularly true in mature TS where many alter-
natives are available in the market.
Functionality, usability and aesthetics (in that order) form essential part of Main parameter of
value (MPV) of all mature TSs.
Following is brief description of the elements can give aesthetic look to a TS. (These are also
common principles of aesthetics in sculpture, architecture, paintings and fashion-design).
• Focal point: Part which draws immediate attention. This is usually the operat-
ing part of TS and highlighted in various ways.
• Balance: Spreading the ‘visual weight’ equally over the entire TS. Most
common technique is called’ rule of thirds’.
• Proportion: It is one of the most important components of aesthetic design.
Generally the ‘Golden ratio’ (1:1.618) and other ‘Fibonacci ratios’ are used.
These ratios have strong linkage to aesthetics of natural things, drawing and
paintings, sculpture, architecture etc.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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• Contour Bias: Rounded features give more aesthetic look instead of sharp
edges or jagged features. (Latter are also used in high powered motorcycles or
SUVs, to give an impression of ‘mean machines’).
• Color: They influence aesthetics of TS significantly if used correctly. The us-
age is also contextual to the main useful function of the technical system. For
items used by children the colors are bright with contrast. Whereas medical
equipment colors are white, light blue or light yellow giving soothing feel. The
nomenclature “white goods” show the influence of color on an entire class of
TS.
7. Technology dispersal, functionality evolution, usability and aesthetics
Functionality evolution is a well-researched topic in TRIZ by many TRIZ experts like Alex
Lyubomirsky, Simon Litwin and others.
There is detailed literature on how TS evolves along the S curve and details of innovations that
happen at different stages one of such research paper is by Valeri Souchkov: Trends of Func-
tionality Evolution [9].
All the literature describes ‘emergence’ of certain functionalities or ‘evolution’ of the TS.
However it is not clear as to what are the factors that lead to the ‘emergence’ of functionalities?
And what drives the makers of TS to risk investment in’ evolution’ of TS?
Driver of this change is market demand but that is not full answer.
Demand by whom and what do they exactly want?
For this it is important to understand nature of dispersal of technology in the society.
As a new TS is invented, its adoption in population is not immediate. Different people have
different attitudes towards technology from tech-affinity to tech-phobia even tech-animosity.
So the dispersal is gradual and follows normal distribution. This is as per the research of Everett
Rogers, which is explained in his book ‘Diffusion of Innovation’ [7].
Figure 3: Dispersal of technology in the society.
According to him the technology dispersal happens in in 5 stages depending on users’ comfort
with technology. Accordingly there are 5 groups of people adopting a new technical system.[8]
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
51
Innovators 2.5% ,Early adopters 13.5% , Early majority 34%, Late Majority 34%, Laggards
16%
(These percentages are indicative and may vary somewhat for different TS .Similarly the groups
are also not water- tight. Further, the migration happens progressively and not in jumps).
The diffusion of TS in the society happens by satisfying the usability demand of the next mar-
ginal class of users to whom makers of the TS want to migrate to. (Space limitation prohibit a
detailed discussion of the subject and is briefly explained here).
• Innovators (2.5%): Some of them are inventors of new TSs. They are venturesome and
what to be first to try new innovation. They are willing to take risks and try new ideas.
Poor usability of TS does not deter them. They work on it to make the TS safe and
minimally useful. They keep on working on the TS even beyond this point.
• Early Adopters (13.5%): These are people who are opinion leaders and embrace
change and new opportunities.They are very comfortable adopting new ideas. A new
TS which is safe to operate is good enough for them to engage. They supplement ef-
forts of innovators who are trying to improve the TS. Both groups contribute to im-
provement of user control, ergonomics (both usability characteristics) even though the
main function is not improved [9]. Efforts of the 2 groups bring in basic level of effi-
ciency and effectiveness in the TS.
• The transition from early adopters to early majority is a difficult one. For this it is im-
portant that the super systems of product (target), energy and life cycle of product to
develop which are essential to large scale usage of the TS by early majority. This us-
age follows with a lag.
• Early Majority(34%) –These people are rarely leaders, but they do adopt new ideas
before the average person.They make various demands. So a variety of auxiliary and
additional functions get added to the TS [9]. By the time this segment of users is satu-
rated the TS has become very complex and many variants are created. Aesthetics grad-
ually gains importance as a part of MPV.
• Late Majority (34%)- These people are skeptical of change, and will only adopt an
innovation after it has been tried by the early majority.They are techno-unfriendly. So
trimming, feature transfer and automation are required simplify the system in order to
attract them. The competition in the market has become intense by then. Advertise-
ment and influencers are required to motivate them to buy TS of particular brand. For
them learning to operate the TS is an issue and training (formal/informal) becomes im-
portant. They are also very cost conscious. A strong service network is required to
build trust.
• Laggards(16%) - These people are bound by tradition and very conservative. They
are very skeptical of change and are the hardest group to bring on board. They come
as reluctant users when the TS has become commonplace in the society and has be-
come to be seen as” necessity” rather than” novelty” or “comfort” or “luxury”.
Thus it can be seen that evolution of TS is a complex interplay between functionality, usa-
bility and aesthetics. The evolution is driven among other things by the usability needs of
the incremental user class during technology dispersal.
8 Conclusions
From the above discussion we can conclude that.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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1.1 Human Technical System interaction (HTSI) is always present at the ‘Control’ part of
the technical systems.
1.2 Super system of control always involves humans. Humans access a TS through multiple
filters and constraints which are internal to their mind or imposed by external circum-
stances.
1.3 It is not the underlying functionality of the TS which affected the user’s performance
(ability to use the TS) but the ways and circumstances in which the TS could be engaged
by the user. This makes of study of usability necessary.
1.4 There are 5 characteristics of usability and there are ways in which they can be built in
the design of TS.
1.5 Asymmetry between producers and users in understanding of TS creates U-F contra-
dictions which can be resolved by TRIZ methods.
1.6 U-F contradictions involve absence of one or more attributes of usability in TS.
1.7 There is an array of solutions on U-F conflicts evolved by designers of TSs in different
areas which can be directly applied to U-F conflicts.
1.8 Aesthetics promotes individual’s engagement with TS and thus usability.
1.9 Human attitude towards technology varies greatly. This results in various usability de-
mands by the next marginal class of users as the technology dispersal happens in the
society. These usability demands a major driver of evolution of the TS along the S curve.
References
All the referenced material is freely accessible on the web and is sourced accordingly.
1. Nancy Goodwin: Functionality and Usability .Communications of the ACM. March1987 vol-
ume30.
2. Synergy between TRIZ and usability: A review by Vanisri Batemanazan, Azizah JaafarNor-
shita Mat Nayan & Rabiah Abdul Kadir https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-
25939-0_45
3. “Analyzing the synergy between HCI and TRIZ in product innovation through a systematic
review of literature. Shahoan chen,Khairul Manami Kamruddin, Shihua Yan. Hindawi Ad-
vances in Human-Computer Interaction Volume 2021, Article ID 6616962, 19 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6616962
4. Exploiting TRIZ Tools in Interaction Design Stefano Fillippe and Daneilla Barattin. Proce-
dia Engineering 171(2015)71-85
5. https://medium.com/symsoft/five-usability-factors-that-make-products-usable-573657edc9f2
6. Universal Principles of Design- A book of compilation of 125 design principles by William
Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler
7. Everett Rogers: Diffusion of Innovation. 5 th edition .Free Press new York
8. https://ondigitalmarketing.com/learn/odm/foundations/5-customer-segments-technology-adop-
tion
9. Valeri Souchkov. Trend of Functionality Evolution
Communicating Author: Hemant Pardikar, hpardikar@gmail.com
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
53
The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT
METHODS FOR TRIZ MODELLING TOOLS
BASED ON CIRCULARITY AND SDGS
Horst Nähler*, Barbara Gronauer**, Karl Koltze***, Bruno Scherb****
*c4pi / TRIZ-Akademie.de
**TRIZ-Akademie.de
***Hochschule Niederrhein
****Technische Hochschule Nürnberg
Abstract
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) aim to address the
world's most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges and to guide interna-
tional efforts towards future sustainable development. One of the frameworks for achieving
many of the SDGs is the circular economy approach, which aims to create a regenerative and
restorative economy, keeping resources in use for as long as possible and minimizes waste,
pollution, and carbon emissions. The starting point for this paper was to utilize the power of
TRIZ modelling and analysis tools to assist in identification of the most critical sustainability
issues. In this paper, we introduce an approach to connect tools of TRIZ with strategies for
achieving the SDGs like the mindset of circular economy.
In contrast to existing methods like Life Cycle Assessment or Carbon Footprint Analysis we
aimed for an approach to identify potential for sustainability-innovations practically and
quickly. To achieve this, we focus on processes and use cases instead of the product, opening
the solution space for specific suggestions to innovate process steps and improve use case sce-
narios.
Based on the TRIZ Function Analysis for Processes and TRIZ Function Analysis for Products
we developed a hands-on assessment to identify the most harmful steps in a process during
production/manufacturing and potential harmful interactions based on use cases during usage
phases. We will introduce a flexible quantification scheme that can be adapted to different sus-
tainability factors, thus supporting users to work towards achievement of the Sustainable De-
velopment Goals.
Keywords: TRIZ Modelling, TRIZ Analysis Tools, TRIZ Function Analysis for Processes, Circular
Economy, Cradle to Cradle (C2C), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sustainability Issues
Identification, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Sustainability-Innovations.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
54
1. Introduction and Background
In the wake of the creation of the VDI-standard 4521 [1] the VDI working group decided to
expand its focus on how the TRIZ-tools described in the guideline could be applied to one of
the most pressing global topics today: How can we mitigate the impact of the current way of
producing and using products and services on the environment, thus threatening the livelihoods
of humans and wildlife around the globe? How can TRIZ, as the gold standard for a systematic
approach to solving tough problems, be utilized in the current environmental situation? Al-
ready, the term “sustainability innovations” has been coined [2], and TRIZ should be ideally
suited to help creating them. As a result, several working groups have formed with different
emphases.
The group of authors of this paper set out to specifically explore TRIZ modelling tools under
the aspect of sustainability, if they can be readily used and how they might be modified to focus
on reducing the environmental impact of products, processes, and services.
Although sustainability aspects are already “built in” at the core of the methodology (e.g. utili-
zation of resources, definition of ideality, resolving contradictions), focussing on sustainability
aspects has to be a conscious decision of the project team using those tools. Only conscious
decision and goal setting can guide the users to reduce waste and utilize TRIZ tools mainly to
decrease the usage of natural given resources by resolving contradictions etc. The significant
improvements of Main Parameters of Value (MPV) of new offers should today focus also on
reducing and solving the climate problems and help influencing customer’s purchasing deci-
sions in "a green thinking and feeling way". We agree that the label “Innovation” should only
be given if the sustainability aspects are considered from the ground up [3].
2. Product Lifecycle and Circular Economy
For a systemic view, we started our work by plotting the phases a primarily physical product
goes through in its lifetime. In contrast to a classical linear product lifecycle as used in (tradi-
tional) Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) [4], the model shown in figure 1 reflects the
circular economy attitude. It shows the brighter end of life options for a product, being reused,
or recycled, thus providing input for realization of same or other products instead of being sent
to landfill sites [5].
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
55
Fig. 1. Product Lifecycle with exemplary Sub-Phases
The phases considered are as follows:
• The Development / Design Phase is the “birth” of a product, including every effort to
make the product ready for the market.
• Production / Realization / Implementation includes all steps necessary to create the
physical product.
• Distribution reflects the steps necessary to bring the product to the market, respectively
to the user.
• Utilization / Service / Support includes everything during the usage of the product.
During usage, services and support might be necessary to maintain or enhance the abil-
ity of the product to perform its expected functions for the user.
• Landfill represents the complete loss of the product or parts of it when dumped.
• Return covers all actions needed to bring the product or part of the product from the
user back to corporate players to be exploited further.
• Reuse / Recycling (including Disassembly / Separation) are actions that aim at feeding
the product or parts of it back to Production / Realization / Implementation in any usable
form.
Each phase of the life cycle can contain several sub-phases, depending on the type of product
and usage. An exemplary collection of possible sub-phases and sub-processes for each life cycle
phase is shown in Figure 1.
Not all phases have to be present when assessing a specific product. Depending on the specific
case and concept, several shortcuts and interconnections between the shown phases are possi-
ble, e.g. direct reuse or redistribution of returned products or parts.
Especially for the phase “Return” and “Reuse / Recycling” the dedicated Cradle to Cradle
(C2C) approach has extended the view on circular economy by defining a technical circle
(Technosphere) and a biological circle (Biosphere). The C2C concept reflects an industrial flow
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
56
of materials, where recollected items feed technological processes, and a flow of biodegradable
materials that serve as nutrients for regrowing resources, as shown in Figure 2 [6].
Fig. 2. Extended Life Cycle Representation with C2C-Approach
We decided that the aim, or the ideal system in TRIZ terms, of any product lifecycle should be
to stay “in the loop” and generate closed circles wherever possible. Every “dead end” is con-
sidered as a total loss and should be avoided. However, circular approaches should as well be
assessed in terms of negative side effects, e.g. potential monocultures as a result of growing
demand of renewable resources, as well as the “rebound effect” or “Jevons paradox” [7, 8].
These challenges would best be addressed during the development / design phase, making use
of the rethink and refuse steps of the “7R approach”: rethink, refuse, reduce, repurpose, reuse,
recycle, rot.
3. Purpose of the Presented Approach
The existing environmental management systems [9, 10, 11] provide general recommendations
and directions on planning and implementing measures to protect the environment. On the op-
erative level, tools like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or the specific Carbon Footprint Analysis
use a very detailed approach to evaluate the impact of a product or service as detailed as possi-
ble. Based on exhaustive databases, which are mostly integrated in software solutions and must
be purchased, certain indicators are calculated for the assessed system. The results quantify the
current product or service and can be used to compare different options, e.g., material alter-
natives or alternative production methods.
The presented approach, which is based on existing and proven TRIZ tools, is not intended as
an alternative to those dedicated approaches. In contrast to the absolute results of LCA or CFA,
the results of the presented method provide a relative rating of process steps compared to each
other. It seeks to be a straightforward, hands-on approach based on estimations of subject matter
experts and quickly identifies opportunities and scopes for action. However, it encourages the
use of detailed data when and if they are obtainable, while not requiring those to produce mean-
ingful results. Despite the hands-on attitude, the presented method can be scaled at will to drill
down to any level of detail. The presented procedure should serve as an inspiration and should
encourage users to start evaluating ways to improve the sustainability of their products and
processes for continuous optimization.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
57
4. Life Cycle Phase: Production / Realization / Implementation: Developing a TRIZ
Sustainability Analysis for Processes
As the most suitable TRIZ modelling tool we chose the Function Analysis for Processes (FA-
Process) as a base system. With respect to the life cycle model, we then identified the Produc-
tion / Realization / Implementation phase as the most suitable starting point for a FA-Process
aimed at sustainability aspects.
4.1 TRIZ Function Analysis for Processes
The Function Analysis for Processes is a TRIZ tool for the analysis of a given process with the
aim of identifying options for improvement and further development. Subsequent tools that are
usually used upstream of the FA-Process are the trimming rules for processes or problem-solv-
ing tools like contradiction analysis. FA-Process contains the following steps [12, 13, 14]:
• Process selection and scoping, definition of start and end of the process,
• Identifying operations (process steps),
• Identifying functions performed within the operations (sub-steps),
• Creating tabular and/or graphical function model for the process,
• Quantifying functionality/usefulness of each operation based on function categories,
• Quantifying cost of each operation,
• Visualization of functionality and cost in a portfolio diagram,
• Selection of next steps, e.g., trimming of functions and/or operations, application of
problem-solving tools.
Fig. 3. General Scheme of a
Graphical Function Model
Table 1. General Scheme of a Tabular Function Model
Process
Operation /
Process Step
Function /
Sub-Step
Function
Category*
Function Rank
(FR)*
Functionality
Sum of FR
per Step
Normalised
FR per Step
Cost
per Step
Normalised
Cost per step
Process
Name
Step 1
Sub-Step 1.1
P
5
FR1
FR1 /
max(FR1, FR2a,
FR2b,…FRi)
C1
C1 /
max(C1, C2a,
C2b,…Ci)
Sub-Step 1.2
T
3
…
Sub-Step 1.n1
C
1
Step 2a
Sub-Step 2a.1
T
3
FR2a
FR2a /
max(FR1, FR2a,
FR2b,…FRi)
C2a
C2a /
max(C1, C2a,
C2b,…Ci)
Sub-Step 2a.2
M
2
…
Sub-Step 2a.n2
P
5
Step 2b
Sub-Step 2b.1
P
5
FR2b
FR2b /
max(FR1, FR2a,
FR2b,…FRi)
C2b
C2b /
max(C1, C2a,
C2b,…Ci)
Sub-Step 2b.2
P
5
…
Sub-Step 2b.n2
M
2
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Step i
Sub-Step i.1
P
5
FRi
FRi /
max(FR1, FR2a,
FR2b,…FRi)
Ci
Ci /
max(C1, C2a,
C2b,…Ci)
Sub-Step i.2
P
5
…
Sub-Step i.ni
T
3
*Function Category and associated Rank exemplary and randomly chosen
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
58
4.2 Sustainability Assessment and Quantification Scheme
While the calculation of the functionality or usefulness of each operation can be conducted by
using the common function categories and ranks listed in figure 3, the calculation of the cost of
each function or operation is up to the user. Often, the process time is used as an indicator of
the cost: The longer a step or sub-step takes, the more it costs. Of course, other metrics and
indicators can be used. FA-Process then normalizes the sum of function rank and cost for each
process step, resulting in a relative assessment of the process. The “worst” process step with
the least value for normalized functionality and/or highest normalized cost can then be identi-
fied, usually by plotting functionality over cost in a portfolio-diagram (see figure 7).
4.2.1 Process Input
As we wanted to target the sustainability aspect, we decided to use the ratio of input and output
as an indicator for the “environmental cost” of a process. Each process step, and consequently
each sub-step, requires different types of input to achieve the desired outcome. Looking through
the TRIZ lens, we took the 6 types of resources as a guideline:
• Substances
• Fields (energy)
• Time (including manpower)
• Space
• Information
• Function
When applied as input for a production process, we concentrated on the most obvious resource
types substances, fields (energy), time and space. For the sake of the scope of this paper, only
substances will be discussed in detail.
In terms of sustainability, only a fraction of the input is utilized and adds to the value, e.g. the
final outcome of the process. During each step and sub-step, several “unused” output and losses
are generated. We considered those losses of any kind as harmful waste or loss, following the
concept of ideality which would suggest a 100% conversion of process input into the outcome
or product. This approach can also be visualized by a Sankey diagram. In the diagram shown,
the input is valued at 100%, 87% of it going into the product, 9% and 4% are specific “losses”.
If specific data, e.g. mass or volume of the input/output is available, the exact data can also be
used.
Fig. 4. Sankey Diagram of Input and Output of a Process Step
We further divided the substances in the following categories that are commonly used as input
for a production process:
• Raw materials
• Semi-finished products
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• Purchased parts
• auxiliary substances
These categories serve as a guideline, making a complete assessment of input easier. They can
easily be modified and adjusted for specific applications.
4.2.2 Process Loss / Waste
The environmental impact of the loss or waste of each step or sub-step strongly depends on
several factors. The definition of these factors was not easy and required a significant amount
of time, involving discussions and testing of several attempts. Finally, we came up with the
following classifications of the losses. Those were used to eventually calculate a sustainability
indicator, reflecting the harm of each step:
• Amount or Percentage of loss (Amount)
• Aggregate state (State)
• Potential impact / toxicity (Impact)
• Cyclicity indicator depending on source and destination (Cyclicity)
Each factor will be introduced and explained.
The amount or percentage of loss can obviously be used as a general indicator of the efficiency
of each step or sub-step. The lower the amount of loss / waste, the better. In our quantification
scheme, the amount of loss serves as a direct factor for calculating the harm.
The aggregate state was used as an indicator of the difficulty in dealing with the loss. We as-
sumed that different aggregate states can be handled easier than others when being collected
or controlled. The following states were defined and assigned a value. The higher the value,
the more difficult to handle or contain is the loss.
• Solid 1 point
• Liquid 2 points
• Fine dust / nebulized liquid 3 points
• Gas 4 points
• Field / Radiation 5 points
The potential impact on the environment addresses the toxicity of a loss. Three categories
were defined and assigned a value. The higher the value the worse. However, a loss can also be
potentially supporting, e.g. when a loss can be used as nutrition or fertilization in a biological
circle. The value is used as a factor in the calculation of the harm.
• Potentially supporting factor 0.5
• Neutral factor 1
• Potentially toxic factor 2
The most complex indicator to define was the cyclicity indicator. As the cyclicity can evolve
into a very complex task, we finally decided to limit ourselves to the following assessment
matrix, with which a value for cyclicity of the loss can be selected:
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Fig. 5. Cyclicity Assessment Matrix
The user can select one of three possible sources that depend on where the input comes from:
• Reused source
The input that was used for the assessed (sub-)step has been used before and is used
with minor modifications (repaired, refurbished, reconditioned…). In terms of sustain-
ability, this is the most beneficial source, resulting in the lowest values for the harm.
• Recycled source
The input of the (sub-)step comes from a recycling process. This can also include re-
growing inputs from controlled cultivation or inputs from controlled sustainable pro-
duction.
• Virgin sources
This category includes previously unused resources that are taken from the environ-
ment or from uncontrolled production. Virgin input can also be regrowing resources
from uncontrolled cultivation like natural forests.
As the second variable, several destinations have been identified:
• Reuse
As the best option in terms of sustainability and as the ideal vision of circularity, the
loss of the (sub-)step can directly be reused by any other process. As an example,
wood chippings from a wood drilling process step that are directly used as insulation
material.
• Recycling
The loss is fed into a subsequent recycling process, providing input for any other pro-
duction process. E.g., wood chippings that are used to produce chipboard.
• Energy
This destination includes all options to convert the loss into energy sources, e.g., burn-
ing for heat or power generation, or being used as a biological energy source as e.g.,
compost.
• Landfill
The worst option is when the loss of a process (sub-)step is just dumped to the envi-
ronment without any further utilization.
For a better understanding, a brief example is provided: A process involves cutting sheet
metal, resulting in 3% offcut which is collected and sold to a scrap yard. For the cutting step,
the input is sheet metal that is bought from a steel mill. Following the outlined scheme, the
source (sheet metal) can be categorized as “virgin”, as only an insignificant amount of re-
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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melted metal is allowed in the sheet metal alloy. The destination can be indicated as “Recy-
cling”, as the scrap will eventually be re-melted. The value of cyclicity according to the as-
sessment matrix would be 6.
We are aware that the assessment matrix does not provide an exact and complete objective
classification in all situations. It is moreover a tool to conduct a semi-objective evaluation of
how close an evaluated process step is to an ideal closed circle. If used consciously and respon-
sibly, the scheme is a useful assistance for subject matter experts. Also, the values given can be
adjusted to decrease the weight of the circularity indicator for the overall harm. We have chosen
a relatively strong bias towards a closed loop, doubling the value with worsening destination
and adding the base value with worsening source.
To calculate the overall harm of a (sub-)step, we settled on the following formula. This formula
has to be considered a preliminary suggestion, as different mathematical relations are possible
to reflect various relationships between the factors used in the calculation. We decided to keep
the calculation very simple:
Harm = [Amount + Cyclicity] x State x Impact (1)
With the above stated quantification scheme, the following limits result:
Max Harm = [100 + 24] x 5 x 2 = 1240 Min Harm = [→0 + 1] x 0.5 x 1 ≈ 0.5 (2)
Using the sheet metal cutting example, the overall harm of this process step is calculated as
follows:
Amount = 5%
Cyclicity = 6
State = Solid = 1
Impact = Neutral = 1
Harm = [5 + 6] x 1 x 1 = 11
We decided to conduct a case study to test the assessment method. The process chosen was a
simplified production process of a non-electric bicycle.
5. Case Study: Bicycle Production Process
First, the bicycle production process was analyzed and split into 4 main steps, which were fur-
ther divided into several sub-steps. In the second step, we analyzed the substances that go into
each sub-step, aided by the substance categories defined in 0. Then we roughly estimated the
percentage of loss or waste of each sub-step. The values represented have no factual background
and are exemplarily chosen. Each sub-step can generate multiple losses or waste. Additionally,
we used the aggregate state of the loss as an order grid to aid later quantification. The graphical
representation of the analysis is shown in figure 6.
The tabular function model for this process has also been created as an excel sheet accordingly.
The tabular model contains the classification of the quantification scheme introduced in 0 with
the calculations of harm for each sub-step as well as calculation of normalized functionality and
normalized harm for each step. These values can be used to quickly identify the “worst” process
(sub-)steps relative to the other steps. The tabular function model as well as the portfolio dia-
gram for the case study is shown in figure 7.
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Fig. 6. Graphical TRIZ Sustainability Analysis for Processes, Bicycle Example
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Fig. 7. Tabular TRIZ Sustainability Analysis for Processes, Bicycle Example
After working through this case study, we formulated the following framework for conducting
a Sustainability Process Analysis based on the TRIZ FA-Process.
1. Initial Situation:
a. Who performs the analysis?
b. What is the product/service/subject of the assessment?
c. Clarification of the aim of the analysis.
2. Which life cycle phase is assessed?
3. Which process(es) exist in this phase?
4. (Graphical / tabular) Analysis of the process
a. Start/end of process
b. Identification of steps (operations)
c. Identification of sub-steps (functions)
5. Classify functionality of each sub-step
6. Identification of Input into steps / sub-steps
7. Identification of losses of each step/sub-step
8. Evaluating harm of each loss: Amount, cyclicity, state and impact
Optional:
9. Calculate normalized functionality and normalized harm for each step
10. Draw portfolio diagram of functionality / harm
11. Define next steps
Step / Operation Sub-Step / Function
Function
Category
Function
Rank
Input Substance Substance Type
Output
Waste / Loss Amount in % Source Value Destination Value Cyclicity Aggregate State Value Impact Value Harm
Manufacturing of Frame and Handlebar Cutting Tubes Prod 5.00 Tubes Semi-Finished Products Offcut 5.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 Solid 1 Neutral 1 9
Cutting Tool Auxiliary Substan ces Chippings 1.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 Solid 1 Neutral 1 5
Deburring Tubes Cor 1.00 Abrasive / Grinding Tools Auxiliary Substances Grinding Dust Tubes 1.0% Recycled 2 Landfill 8 16 Solid 1 Neutral 1 17
Grinding Dust Grinding Tools 0.5% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Solid 1 Pot. Toxic 2 49
Join Tubes with Connectors Prod 5.00 Conn ectors Purchased Parts
Soldering of Frame Prod 5.00 Solder Auxiliary Substances Solder 1.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Solid 1 Pot. Toxic 2 50
Flux Agent Auxiliary Substances Burnt Flux Agent 98.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24
Fine Dust / Nebulized Liquid
3 Pot. Toxic 2 732
Gas Mixture Auxiliary Substan ces Exhaust Gas 100.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Gas 4 Pot. Toxic 2 992
Painting Cleaning Parts Cor 1. 00 Ater Raw Materials Water 100.0% Virgin 3 Recycling 2 6 Liquid 2 Pot. Supporting 0. 5 106
Cleaning Agent Auxiliar y Substances Cleaning Agent 100.0% Virgin 3 Recycling 2 6 Liquid 2 Pot. Toxic 2 424
Dirt 100.0% Virgin 3 Landf ill 8 24 Solid 1 Neutral 1 124
Priming Parts Prod 5.00 Primer Semi-Finished Products
Pressurized Air Raw Materials Exha ust Air 100.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 Gas 4 Pot. Supporting 0.5 208
Drying Primed Parts Co r 1.00 Air Raw Materials Exhaust Air 100.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 Gas 4 Pot. Supporting 0.5 208
Water Vapor 100.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Gas 4 Pot. Su pporting 0.5 248
Painting Parts Prod 5.00 Paint Semi-Finished Products Solvent 50.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Gas 4 Pot. Su pporting 0.5 148
Pressurized Air Raw Materials Exhus t Air 100.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 Gas 4 Pot. Supporting 0.5 208
Excess Paint 5.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Liqu id 2 Pot. Toxic 2 116
Burning in Painted Parts Prod 5.00 Paint Semi-Finished Products Exhaust Gas 100.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Ga s 4 Pot. Toxic 2 992
Gas Mixture Auxiliary Substan ces Burnt Solvent 50.0% Virgin 3 Landfill 8 24 Gas 4 Pot. Toxic 2 592
Manufacturing of Tires Assemble Rim, Shell, Tube Prod 5.00 Rim, Shell, Tube Purchased Parts 0.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 n.n. 0 Neutral 1 0
Inflate Tire Prod 5.00 Press urized Air Raw Materials 0.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 n.n. 0 Neutral 1 0
Final Assembly Assemble Frame and Handlebar s Prod 5.00 Fasteners Purchased Parts 0.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 n.n. 0 Neutral 1 0
Assemble Tires Prod 5.00 Fasteners Purchased Parts 0.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 n.n. 0 Neutral 1 0
Assemble Add-on Parts Prod 5.00 Add-on Par ts Purchased Parts 0.0% Recycled 2 Recycling 2 4 n.n. 0 Neutral 1 0
Step / Operation Sub-Step / Function
Sum
Function
Rank
Function Rank
normalized
Sum
Harm /
Step
Normalized
Harm / Step
Manufacturing of Frame and Handlebar Cutting Tubes
Deburring Tubes
Join Tubes with Conn ectors
Soldering of Frame
16.00 94% 1854 55%
Painting Cleaning Parts
Priming Parts
Drying Primed Parts
Painting Parts
Burning in Painted Parts
17.00 100% 3374 100%
Manufacturing of Tires As semble Rim, Shell, Tube
Inflate Tire
10.00 59% 00%
Final Assembly Assemble Frame and Handlebars
Assemble Tires
Assemble Add-on Parts
15.00 88% 00%
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The assessment can also be cut short after step 8 if enough insight is already generated. The
graphical representation can already serve as a starting point for problem solving and take ac-
tion to improve the process, e.g. by generating ideas for alternative inputs or alternative process-
(sub-) steps that do not produce the identified losses and waste. Also, the trimming rules for
processes can already be applied after step 8.
6. Identifying Sustainability Issues in other Life Cycle Phases
Currently we are looking into other life cycle phases, especially the utilization / service / support
phase seemed to be a valuable subject for assessing sustainability issues. E.g., the use of wash-
ing machines, dishwashers etc. are suitable for being represented as processes.
However, we also wanted to explore further TRIZ modelling tools and their suitability to be
directed at sustainability challenges. We decided to test the TRIZ function analysis for products
(FA-Product), as this analysis tool is capable of clarifying the interactions of components of a
given system with each other and with supersystems while performing its main function(s) [15].
These interactions can be specifically examined regarding potential or actual harm that is
caused, either on other system components or on supersystems. For a start, we investigated the
bicycle case study, the results shown in this paper represent work in progress.
6.1 Life Cycle Phase: Utilization / Service / Support – Use-Case Bicycle
In the lifecycle phase Utilization / Service / Support, several scenarios can occur. This phase
can also contain multiple use cases depending on user groups, environment, and different usage
situations. However, especially if we are assessing physical products during use, the FA-Prod-
uct can be used as usual to model different use cases. We realized that if we are focusing on
sustainability topics, wear and tear is one of the main reasons why pollution and waste is cre-
ated. Starting from break dust of bicycles and cars up to the need to exchange used-up consum-
ables.
Considering this aspect, the interactions between the components which produce wear can be
highlighted. Typically, the “usual suspects” for wear are interactions that reflect actual touching
parts with relative movement. As a first basic starting point, the interaction matrix of FA-Prod-
uct can be used to highlight potential wear partners. Eventually, the graphical function model
(figure 8) is highly suitable in visualizing causes for negative environmental impact of the as-
sessed use case.
Each component can be an assembly of any complexity. Hence components can be marked in
the graphical function model that bear potential wear in themselves or are used up due to their
functionality. Figure 8 shows several highlighted interactions and components indicating sus-
tainability issues. Of course, harmful interactions that are inherent to the systems functionality
are also valuable indicators. After identifying those troublesome components and interactions,
subsequent tools can then be employed to work on the identified problems. For instance, a
cause-effect-chain analysis can be conducted to dive deeper into wear mechanisms, or detailed
function models of components (e.g., by building nested function models [16]) can be used to
investigate subsystems further. Of course, any problem-solving tools of TRIZ can be used to
directly tackle identified problematic interactions or contradictions.
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Fig. 8. TRIZ Sustainability Analysis for Products / Bicycle Example
This modification of the FA-Product represents the current state, and we will continue to look
for further additions to TRIZ tools to support their applicability to sustainability challenges.
7. Conclusion and Outlook
Although TRIZ as a toolset of algorithms, concepts and methods is potentially capable of solv-
ing inventive problems in any context [17], enriching, and extending the tools for specific con-
texts like sustainability can significantly lower the threshold to actually using the tool.
The presented assessment methods are a valuable starting point, providing straight-forward and
hands-on approaches to the analysis of processes and products to lower their environmental
impact. This enables small companies and startups to quickly assess situations without having
to use costly and time-consuming tools.
We are sure that there are even more options to expand TRIZ tools to be directly used for
sustainability topics. Also, linking or embedding TRIZ tools to existing environmental man-
agement tools and sustainability concepts bear great potential for accelerating the implementa-
tion of the SDGs and increasing the probability for a livable future environment.
Acknowledgements
We like to thank all participants of the VDI 4521 working group for the great ongoing exchange,
collaboration, and inspiration:
Robert Adunka, Alexander Czinki, Daniela Hein, Claudia Hentschel, Kai Hiltmann, Norbert
Huber, Pavel Livotov, Bert Miezcnik, Hanna Seefeld, Christian Thurnes, Jörg Vetter, Frank
Schnittker, Claus Lang-Koetz, Oliver Mayer.
References
1. VDI 4521 – Part 1,2 3. Inventive problem solving with TRIZ, Verein Deutscher Ingenieure
e.V. 2018-2021
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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2. Scherb, B., Miecznik, B., Lang-Koetz, C., Vetter, J., Gronauer, B., Schnittker, F.: VDI-
Handlungsempfehlung, Nachhaltigkeitsinnovationen entwickeln und umsetzen, VDI Verein
Deutscher Ingenieure e.V., 2023
3. Maja Goepel, re:publica 2022: Her mit der besseren Zukunft, https://youtu.be/Ylql_4epV-Y,
last accessed: June 13th, 2023
4. Stark, J.: Product Lifecycle Management: 21st Century Paradigm for Product Realisation,
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7. Owen, D.: The Efficiency Dilemma, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/12/20/the-
efficiency-dilemma, last accessed: June 13th, 2023
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DIN EN ISO 14001:2015-11, Beuth-Verlag, 2015
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digitalisierung/wirtschaft/unternehmensverantwortung-/-zertifizierung/emas , last accessed:
June 13th, 2023
11. VDI 4605, Evaluation of Sustainability, Verein Deutscher Ingenieure e.V., 2017
12. Ikovenko, S.: Level 3 Training Manual. 2019
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Software in TRIZ. In: Nowak, R., Chrząszcz, J., Brad, S. (eds) Systematic Innovation
Partnerships with Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology. TFC 2022. IFIP
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of Software and IT systems in TRIZ. In: Mayer, O. (eds) TRIZ-Anwendertag 2022. Springer
Vieweg, 2022, ISBN 978-3-662-66200-7
15. Ikovenko, S., Przymusiala, M., Yatsunenko, S., Barkan, M. G., Karendal, P., Kobya-kov, S.,
Obojski, J., Vintman, Z.: State-of-the-Art TRIZ, Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.
Novismo Ltd. 2019. ISBN 978-83-65899-05-7
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Development, in: Coordination and Integration of TRIZ tools, Collection of Scientific Papers.
TRIZ Developers Summit Library. Issue 6. Kiev, 2014
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Communicating Author: Horst Nähler, naehler@c4pi.de
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
IMPERCEPTIBLE DETECTION OF
FLUORESCENCE – TOWARDS A PROOF-OF-
CONCEPT PROTOTYPE
Jerzy Chrząszcz
Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Computer Science, Poland
Pentacomp Systemy Informatyczne S.A., Warsaw, Poland
Abstract
A method for detecting fluorescent markers developed using TRIZ methodology was presented during
the TRIZfest-2021 conference. While observing fluorescence induced by ultraviolet radiation is used in
several application areas, the unique requirements for the proposed approach were the imperceptibility
of the detection and its applicability in normal ambient light conditions. The generated solution employs
a weak modulated ultraviolet beam and image processing system capable of isolating and amplifying
the fluorescent response of the activated markers. The substantiation phase of the project covered sim-
ulation using publicly available images taken in normal light conditions and under ultraviolet radiation.
This paper describes the next project stage, aimed at designing a physical proof-of-concept prototype of
a system implementing the devised method. Its primary focus is on using TRIZ thinking – especially
the function and resource perspectives – to improve the original solution concept, making the prototype
system easier to build and more energy-efficient. A systematic approach to incremental prototyping is
also presented, which may interest both TRIZ researchers and practitioners.
Keywords: TRIZ, ultraviolet, fluorescence detection, human perception, prototyping, Proof-of-Con-
cept
1. Introduction and previous work
1.1 The problem
Fluorescence is a phenomenon of a very short emission of electromagnetic radiation after
providing an object with additional energy. It is widely used to observe visible or infrared radi-
ation emitted in response to ultraviolet radiation (UV light). If we neglect other interactions
between light and matter, the object partially reflects and absorbs the incident UV beam [1].
The absorbed energy elevates some electrons to unstable higher energy states, so they return
immediately to their ground states, and for many substances, this causes fluorescent light emis-
sion. The color (spectrum) of the generated light depends on the chemical composition of the
activated parts of the object [2].
Banknotes, passports, and other documents are protected against forgery with various markers
imprinted with fluorescent dyes, which remain invisible in ambient light and may only be seen
when illuminated (energized) with UV light. The detection is performed visually by the user,
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and because the fluorescent light is relatively weak, as compared to daylight and office light,
the examined document is typically observed in a darkened place (as shown in Fig. 1).
The visual assessment of the markers (their presence, locations, shapes, and colors) confirms
or denies document authenticity. Such an examination is used in similar forms in airports, banks
and other places where documents or banknotes are checked. Since the markers are observed
with the naked eye, any person seeing the object illuminated by UV light may see the results of
the examination.
Fig. 1. A typical approach to the detection of fluorescent markers – a shield is used
to block the ambient light impeding the observation, and the results may be visible to oth-
ers (adapted from [3])
Such an explicit approach is inappropriate when the detection results must be delivered solely
to the user, imperceptibly to others, including those under examination. This may be the case
of a hidden screening of people to look for spots on the skin or clothes of an assailant left by a
pepper gel or a hidden screening of banknotes to identify those marked in a specific way (e.g.,
passed as a ransom). Because of the covert nature of the process, it must be performed without
changing the location or appearance of the examined objects. Therefore, the activation UV
beam, the reflected UV light and emitted fluorescent light must not be visible to the bystanders
witnessing the examination.
1.2 The solution
The process of analyzing the problem situation and generating solutions with TRIZ tools is
described in [4]. The system was analyzed using Function Analysis, and the physical contra-
diction was formulated as follows:
• the optical changes must be visible to the user to enable the detection of the markers, AND
• the optical changes must not be visible to the bystander to keep the detection imperceptible.
After revealing key disadvantages through Cause-Effect Chains Analysis, the key problems
were formulated, then one of the generated solution ideas was substantiated using computer
simulation [3, 4], and a patent application was filed, covering the method and device.
The object is illuminated with a UV beam so weak that the reflected UV light and generated
fluorescent light are invisible to humans in ambient light conditions. The activation beam is
modulated so the examined object may be observed with and without UV light. This variability
is essential to confirm that optical changes come from UV-induced fluorescent light. A camera
user
bystanders
reflected UV light
fluorescent light
object
direct
UV light
direct ambient light
ambient light
source
shield UV light
source
on/off
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acquires and sends the object images to an image processing system, which extracts and ampli-
fies weak color changes. Finally, the outcome is communicated to the user through an output
device (see Fig. 2). The result may be an image displayed for a visual assessment, or an audio
signal may be emitted in headphones when a specific response is recognized.
Fig. 2. Imperceptible detection of fluorescent markers in ambient light – modulated UV
light induces fluorescent light too weak to be seen with the naked eye, which is acquired
by a camera and extracted by an image processing system to inform the user through an
output device (adapted from [3])
1.3 The detection process
The proposed detection process involves the following steps:
1. The user turns the detector on.
2. The processing system waits for a trigger from the user or starts detection automatically.
3. Two reference images, as close in time as possible, are acquired from the video stream
generated by the camera, representing the observed scene with the UV beam on and off.
4. The OFF image is subtracted pixel-wise from the ON image to obtain a differential image.
5. The differential image is processed to amplify the intensities of the pixels representing flu-
orescent markers.
6. The system decides if the detected pattern qualifies as a hit or miss (optional step).
7. The output device communicates the result to the user with a respective modality.
8. The user turns the detector off, or the control returns to step 2.
1.4 The solution substantiation
The core of described method (steps 3-5) was validated by computer simulation using images
of banknotes and documents taken in normal ambient light and under UV light [3, 4]. The image
processing was implemented using Adobe Photoshop Elements application, and the results
were evaluated visually and by comparing average intensities. The experiments covered restor-
ing markers from gradually darkened UV light images and from daylight images combined with
UV light images in various proportions by additive mixing. Moreover, the visibility of blinking
caused by the UV beam was assessed by emulating the objects' appearance with animated GIF
images built from multiple snapshots for various beam intensities and modulation variants.
user
reflected ambient light
weak reflected UV light
weak fluorescent light
weak direct
UV light
direct ambient light
ambient light
source
object
output
signal
UV light
source
processing
system
output
device
color
camera
bystanders
on/off
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It was shown that the markers might be recognized even when as small as 1% of the UV light
image was added to the daylight image, while changes as big as 40% of the UV light image
added to the daylight image may be difficult to spot if the transitions are sufficiently smooth.
Although the markers' representations revealed using differential images were not identical to
images taken under UV light, the similarity was sufficient to recognize the markers reasonably.
2. Improving the solution with TRIZ
The simulation experiments confirmed the general concept of image processing and proved the
ability to transform invisibly small changes resulting from fluorescent light added to the ambi-
ent light image to easily recognizable patterns. Nevertheless, they incurred several simplifica-
tions concerning image acquisition and the samples selected [3], which should be addressed.
Typical activities performed in the substantiation phase of a TRIZ project cover identifying and
solving secondary problems and maximizing benefits resulting from the changes introduced to
the system. We will therefore review original project decisions regarding the devised detection
process and system implementation approach.
2.1 Describing ideal solution
One of the advantages of TRIZ is the ability to direct solution search toward the ideal solution.
The purpose of the system under consideration may be described as (1) to inform the user about
fluorescent markers (2) detected in ambient light conditions (3) without informing bystanders
about the detection process and its results. The first part indicates the main useful function of
the detector, while the remaining parts reflect two crucial application requirements. Image pro-
cessing may be described as extracting and amplifying imperceptibly small color changes.
The Ideal System serving such a purpose may be described as fluorescent markers manifesting
themselves in ambient light conditions solely to the user and without any cost or harm. In other
words, the more components, energy or effort are needed, the less ideal the system is.
2.2 Reviewing detection process
The original detection method is expected to produce correct results as long as the pixels of the
same coordinates in two reference images represent the same area of the scene pictured. This
condition is satisfied for static scenes observed with a fixed camera or when the changes in the
projection of the scene onto the image sensor resulting from the relative camera movement are
below single-pixel resolution. Such a requirement is challenging even in a laboratory environ-
ment, and expecting unnoticeable changes in relative pixel locations between ON and OFF
reference frames in real-world applications seems unrealistic (see Fig. 3).
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Fig. 3. Changes in a sample image (a) resulting from horizontal and vertical camera
movement (b, c),
a movement toward and away from the objects (d, e) and relative movement of the ob-
jects (f)
If the objects in the scene do not move with respect to each other between the acquisitions of
the reference frames, then the coordinates of all pixels in the image change following the same
rules. The simplest case is when the scaling of the objects is retained, and all pixels are shifted
on the sensor in the same way (as in. Fig. 3b, 3c). Moving the camera forward or backward will
change the scales of objects, which is very likely for fluorescent marker detection performed at
a relatively small distance from the examined area (see Fig. 3d, 3e).
While the constraint of negligible geometry changes between the reference frames might be
alleviated by using a camera with a very high framerate, such a camera would generate a huge
amount of data and require a sufficiently fast processing unit. Therefore, a cheaper and more
practical approach would be to allow for small changes in the scene images acquired by the
camera for the ON and OFF frames and adjust (align) the images before the subtraction.
Assuming that differences are caused by changed locations of specific objects in the field of
view, we may identify corresponding objects in the reference frames and transform the coordi-
nates of the respective pixel groups in one frame to match the other. On top of this, distortion
introduced by the lens may result in nonlinear changes of pixel coordinates due to the "cushion"
or "barrel" effect, even for simple scrolling or panning. Consequently, the generic approach
seems to identify and match the objects between reference images using specific properties
derived from these images, such as the edges representing objects' boundaries. This paradigm
is used by the Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT), Speed-Up Robust Feature (SURF),
Robust Independent Elementary Features (BRIEF) and other methods [5].
The results of rephrasing the original description of the process to characterize elementary op-
erations using the framework of the Function Analysis for Processes are presented in Tab. 1.
Steps 3 and 4 are split to reflect the acquisition of the reference frames in different conditions
and matching geometry of the reference images before they are processed pixel-wise. Steps 4a,
4b and 5 are considered normal performance with high computation cost, and the categorization
of steps 3a and 3b (insufficient / high cost vs. normal / low cost) is discussed below.
c
e f
b
d
a
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Table 1. Characterization of the operations constituting the detection process
Operation
Type
Level
Cost
1. The user turns the detector on.
supporting
normal
low
2. The user or a timeout triggers the detection cycle.
supporting
normal
low
3a. Processing system acquires the reference image
from the video stream with the UV beam turned on.
productive
insufficient
or normal
high
low
3b. Processing system acquires the reference image
from the video stream with the UV beam turned off.
productive
insufficient
or normal
high
low
4a. Processing system aligns the reference images
to match the coordinates of respective pixels.
corrective
normal
high
4b. Processing system subtracts the OFF image from
the ON image pixel-wise to obtain a differential image.
productive
normal
high
5. Processing system processes the differential image
to reveal the fluorescent markers.
productive
normal
high
6. Processing system qualifies the result
as a hit or miss (optional step).
measurement
normal
low
7. The output device communicates the result
to the user with a respective modality.
productive
normal
low
8. The user turns the detector off,
or the control returns to step 2.
supporting
normal
low
2.3 Reviewing system structure
To implement the described process, we use the following system components (see Fig. 4):
• the UV light source to provide the marker activation beam (direct UV light),
• the camera to acquire images of the observed scene,
• the processing system capable of performing required image processing,
• the output device to inform the user about the detection results,
• the energy source powering the whole system,
• the switch to control the UV light source (at least by turning it on and off).
There are also several supersystem components necessary for successful detection:
• the object under examination,
• the fluorescent light generated by the object under UV illumination informs the camera,
• the user who controls the detector operation and interprets the results.
The other supersystem components, on the contrary, make the detection more challenging:
• the bystander must be kept unaware of the detection process and its results,
• the ambient light source generates direct ambient light,
• direct ambient light illuminates the object, masks fluorescent light and reflected UV light,
and informs the user and bystander (so they can see the ambient light source),
• the reflected ambient light informs the user and bystander (so they can see the object),
• the reflected UV light and reflected ambient light inform the camera.
As the reflected UV light and fluorescent light generated by the activated areas of the object
are, by design, too weak to be visible to the naked eye, they only affect the camera. Besides,
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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direct UV light and direct ambient light are assumed not to reach the camera. That is why no
functions are indicated in the diagram between the reflected UV light or fluorescent light and
the user or bystander, as well as between direct UV light or direct ambient light and the camera.
Fig. 4. Function diagram of an integrated device performing imperceptible detection of flu-
orescent markers in ambient light; case and optical element are omitted in the description
(adapted from [4])
3. Designing Proof-of-Concept prototype
A Proof-of-Concept (PoC) prototype aims to materialize the concept for verifying whether the
devised approach yields usable outcomes in realistic circumstances. Therefore, we will focus
on prototyping the method (process) rather than a specific implementation (device), keeping in
mind the critical success factors of imperceptible detection:
• the markers must exist on the object,
• the markers must be reachable to the activation beam and visible to the camera,
• the activation beam must have sufficiently high energy to induce fluorescence,
• the resulting color changes must be sufficiently large to be registered by the camera,
• the color changes must be sufficiently small or slow not to be noticed by bystanders.
The target system version is supposed to use smart glasses as a base system capable of acquiring
and analyzing images in real-time and displaying the results to the user invisibly to other people.
As commodity smart glasses are not equipped with a built-in UV light source, it must be pro-
vided as an add-on device. The possible choices include using an external UV emitter with the
off-the-shelf smart glasses or developing custom smart glasses (which seems far more risky).
Attaching the UV light source to the smart glasses would simplify mechanical coordination
between the emitter and the camera by aligning their optical axes, thus freeing the user from
taking care of this aspect. On the other hand, a separate UV emitter may be convenient in some
application scenarios, and such a configuration gives better chances for using different energy
sources for the glasses and emitter. Moreover, many blinking UV lamps are available on the
market, and using existing resources from the supersystem is appropriate for the first and tran-
sitional stages of the S-curved system evolution [6].
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An autonomous UV emitter requires modulation parameters to be recognized directly from the
video stream by detecting the frames with the minimum and maximum intensity of the beam.
The application area facing a similar challenge is optical pulse detection based on minuscule
changes in skin color caused by blood flow which requires computationally intensive spatio-
temporal filtering [7]. These complex operations are not required if the processing system con-
trols the modulation, and such an approach is preferred as simpler and faster.
Instead of analyzing the video stream to acquire appropriate reference images, we may grab
two back-to-back still images with the UV beam switched on and off. Such an approach saves
energy and increases process performance since every acquired picture is used in processing.
Consequently, the choice between autonomous and controlled UV emitter implies the image
acquisition steps (3a and 3b in Tab. 1) to be either insufficient / high cost or normal / low cost.
Considering the presented analysis, it was decided to use a smartphone or tablet instead of smart
glasses for the PoC prototyping with the following improvements introduced to the original
detection process:
• simplified image acquisition – acquiring still ON and OFF images rather than analyzing the
video stream on the fly simplifies the process and decreases the energy required by the
image processing system,
• simplified beam modulation – generating single pulses only during the acquisition of ON
reference images rather than a continuous wave decreases the energy required by the UV
emitter,
• simplified time regime – the detection cycles may be triggered asynchronously (as they are
not constrained by periodical beam modulation), so the variable processing time required
for matching reference images with unknown numbers of objects is acceptable.
3.1 Smartphone as a system platform
A typical smartphone integrates almost all components required to implement the prototype,
with only the UV light source missing from the original component list:
• a built-in energy source – a battery that may be charged (also during system operation),
• a camera (usually more than one) able to acquire photos and videos in different formats,
• processing units (typically from 4 to 8 general-purpose cores and a graphics processor),
• output devices, such as display(s), speaker(s), headphones, vibration motor, and others.
Several software development frameworks are available, together with graphics libraries that
support creating image-processing applications, especially for the Android operating system.
This combination makes an Android smartphone an attractive system platform for prototyping.
3.2 Internal UV emitter
One of the main TRIZ guidelines is identifying available resources and investigating their pos-
sible applications. We need a UV light source, and what we have in a smartphone is a white
LED (Light Emitting Diode) used as a photo flash and flashlight. However, a white LED is
typically manufactured using a blue or UV LED activating a fluorophore prepared in such a
way that the output beam appears white. Hence, blocking the visible range of the white beam
may leave a weak residual UV component for some LEDs [8]. For smartphones using such
LEDs, the required UV beam may be supposedly obtained using an external filter without any
hardware modifications. Unfortunately, none of the smartphones examined during this paper's
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preparation could induce fluorescence with its flashlight, which looked reddish through a
ZWB2 UV bandpass filter rather than purple, as for UV LEDs.
Another approach is to replace the white onboard LED with a low-power UV LED, which
seems a viable option, but it requires precise de-soldering and soldering of tiny surface-mount
LEDs on a crowded phone circuit board, risking the failure of the whole device. Additionally,
such a modification would result in the loss of the manufacturer's warranty and the inability to
take photos with white light, thus limiting the cameras' usefulness in other applications.
It also seems possible to use two onboard light sources: white LED + UV LED mounted inside
the phone case instead of the existing flashlight LED. However, this would require meticulous
changes in hardware and low-level software. On top of this, while several integrated multi-color
LEDs are offered, including UV LEDs of different wavelengths, no white LED combined with
a UV LED was found, so this variant seems futuristic.
3.3 External UV emitter
Using an external emitter for detection appears attractive, as the phone can be carried, e.g., in a
pocket, with the camera seeing the area of interest, and taken by hand upon receiving the signal
indicating detection of markers, e.g., through wireless headphones. The activating beam should
be invisible to the naked eye in normal lighting conditions, and the UV light source can be
discreetly mounted in the headgear, clothing, bag, etc.
Among the wired connections available in a smartphone, we have a USB port and a coaxial
audio jack for connecting a headset. Such a set usually includes stereo headphones with a mi-
crophone and volume control, and it also works as the antenna for FM radio. Wireless interfaces
are available for WiFi and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and some phones also have an IrDA
(Infrared Data Association) port supporting two-way transmission using infrared radiation. The
audio jack and IrDA used to be popular, but nowadays, they mainly appear in specialized
smartphones featuring some extra capabilities.
We must equip the external emitter with a controller handling the transmission through a com-
patible hardware interface to use any of the mentioned connections. In addition, using standard
communication protocols implies additional programming during the system development and
additional delays during system operation resulting from overheads on the transmitting and
receiving side. One might also consider using acoustic signals produced by the speaker, optical
signals produced by the LED flashlight and phone vibration for emitter control. For the ade-
quate flow of control signals, it is necessary to have an interface with the appropriate sensor
(microphone, photoelement, etc.) on the UV emitter side.
3.4 Comparison of candidate configurations
A lineup of the mentioned configurations is presented in Tab. 2. The advantages are labeled
using an implicit ordinal scale so that "common" is considered better than niche, "wireless" is
better than wired, "simple" is better than complex, "all-in-one" is better than partitioned and
"low-energy" better than regular. The latter advantage is additionally annotated with "+" as
being crucial for a battery-operated device. Similarly, the noticeability of transmission is em-
phasized among the drawbacks with "–" as disqualifying.
"Hidden flash" stands for a setup with a light sensor attached to the LED flashlight and con-
nected to the UV beam controller with a wire or located in the controller and connected to the
flashlight through an optical fiber. In either case, a material link is required between the
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smartphone and the beam controller. "Direct flash" stands for a configuration where these de-
vices are optically coupled without connecting anything to the smartphone. "Integrated" denotes
the configuration with the white LED replaced by a UV LED, "filtered" denotes using the orig-
inal white LED with an external filter blocking visible light, while "autonomous" denotes a
standalone emitter. Finally, "native" describes an imaginary futuristic configuration with a UV
LED preinstalled by the smartphone manufacturer.
Table 2. The comparison of the analyzed configurations of UV emitter control
interface
pros
cons
USB
common, low-energy+
needs receiver, delays
BLE
common, wireless, low-energy+
needs receiver, delays
WiFi
common, wireless
needs receiver, delays
IrDA
wireless
needs receiver, delays, directional
audio jack
simple, low-energy+
needs receiver
speaker
common, wireless, simple
needs receiver, easy to jam, noticeable–
vibration
common, wireless, simple
needs receiver, easy to jam, noticeable–
hidden flash
common, simple, low-energy+
needs receiver
direct flash
common, wireless, simple
needs receiver, directional, noticeable–
integrated
all-in-one, low-energy+
voids warranty, removes flashlight
filtered
all-in-one, simple
needs research
autonomous
common
high computation cost
native
all-in-one, simple, low-energy+
These configurations are mapped in Tab. 3, accordingly to the number of pros and cons, and
with the inherited +/– annotations. Despite the roughness of such a simplified assessment, it
allows for a quick differentiation of the considered variants, reflecting their applicability and
relative attractiveness. This ranking may be further refined by rejecting the variants requiring
noticeable signals and introducing weights reflecting the importance of particular characteris-
tics. As stated in section 2.1, the all-in-one design increases ideality, while extra processing
required for handling autonomous emitter decreases ideality.
Table 3. The analyzed configurations mapped accordingly to the numbers of pros and cons,
with the most promising variants located in the shaded quadrant
3
native+
hidden flash+
BLE+
speaker –, vibration–,
direct flash–
2
audio jack+, filtered+
USB+, Wi-Fi,
integrated+
1
autonomous
IrDA
0
pros/cons
0
1
2
3
3.5 Adaptive emission control
In the simplest case, the emitter may switch UV emission of constant intensity on and off.
However, the visibility of the activation beam depends on the viewing conditions, so adaptive
adjustment of the beam intensity to the ambient light would make it possible to enhance the
system performance. The intensity may be increased in bright ambient light to improve the
detection effectiveness and reduced in dimmed light not to reveal the detection to bystanders.
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The human eye perceives rapid visual changes more easily than slow ones, so it seems possible
to increase detection effectiveness by replacing pulse modulation with smooth changes in the
beam intensity. The experiments described in [3] showed that for gradual changes, the maxi-
mum intensity level could be 8 times higher than for an imperceptible beam modulated as a
square wave with a period of 400 ms and a 50% duty ratio. These results seem a sufficient
justification for considering increasing and decreasing the beam's intensity smoothly.
4. Implementing Proof-of-Concept prototype
4.1 Incremental prototyping approach
BLE interface was eventually chosen for prototyping due to its wireless, low-power operation
and popularity. Developing and manufacturing a UV torch with a BLE interface is easier and
less risky than building or reworking smart glasses. Also, buying a BLE-controlled UV torch
and downloading an application to turn the owned smartphone into a fluorescence detector
seems a more realistic scenario than buying such a torch with smart glasses. Therefore, a
smartphone-based detector seems to be a candidate budget variant of the full-flavor detector
using smart glasses, with a dedicated BLE-controlled emitter compatible with both versions.
The prototype implementation was successively redefined using the below outline to organize
efforts incrementally and support the early detection of possible deficiencies (see Fig. 5).
(1) we aim at smart glasses with a camera, a custom BLE-connected UV emitter and a software
application as a professional product version,
(2) we aim at an Android smartphone or tablet with a custom BLE-connected UV emitter and
software application as a budget product version and a PoC prototype of (1),
(3) we aim at an Android smartphone with a custom USB-connected UV emitter and software
application as an entry product version and a PoC prototype of (2),
(4) we aim at an Android smartphone with a custom USB-connected UV emitter and simplified
software application as a PoC prototype of (3),
(5) we aim at a Windows PC with a camera, custom USB-connected UV emitter and simplified
software application as a PoC prototype of (4),
(6) we aim at a Windows PC with a camera, commodity USB-connected UV emitter and sim-
plified software application as a PoC prototype of (5).
Fig. 5. Successive simplification of the PoC implementation concept
4.2 First prototype
To implement the first PoC prototype, we used the setup comprising:
• PC running Windows 10 as the system platform,
• Logitech BRIO Ultra HD Business USB webcam,
professional
product
budget
product
entry
product
third
prototype
second
prototype
first
prototype
replacing smart glasses
with smartphone
replacing BLE emitter
with USB emitter
simplifying application replacing smartphone
with PC and camera
replacing custom emitter
with adapted COTS emitter
smart glasses
+ custom
BLE emitter
+ target
application
smartphone
+ custom
BLE emitter
+ target
application
smartphone
+ custom
USB emitter
+ target
application
smartphone
+ custom
USB emitter
+ simplified
application
PC + camera
+ custom
USB emitter
+ simplified
application
PC + camera
+ commodity
USB emitter
+ simplified
application
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
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• BlinkStick Nano [9], a commodity USB LED controller adapted to drive UV LEDs,
• Custom control program managing UV emitter operation and image acquisition,
• Adobe Photoshop Elements application for processing reference images.
The BlinkStick Nano uses two WS2812 modules containing RGB LEDs integrated with a pro-
grammable controller capable of driving each LED with 256 intensity levels using PWM
(Pulse-Width Modulation). One of these modules was replaced for prototyping with a WS2811
circuit containing a compatible PWM controller driving three UV LEDs (see Fig. 6).
Fig. 6. Original BlinkStick Nano device (left) and its adapted version having RGB LED
module
with an integrated PWM controller replaced by a standalone controller and three UV
LEDs (right)
The VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) program embedded in an Excel worksheet controls
UV LEDs using libraries provided for BlinkStick for Windows. Similar libraries are also avail-
able for Android, so the emitter should work correctly with any Android smartphone featuring
a USB OTG (On-The-Go) port. The camera is controlled using VideoCap SDK ActiveX [10].
4.3 Sample results
The control program allows for setting specific UV beam intensities and acquiring single im-
ages or a sequence of images with predefined beam intensities. Image matching and processing
functions are not implemented in the current version, so the observed objects must remain still,
and the acquired images were processed manually using Adobe Photoshop Elements.
A piece of a black foam sheet was sprayed with pepper gel and then washed and dried. This
sample was photographed in the described installation with a color background. Fig. 7 presents
the images obtained with 25% UV light intensity, as higher intensities brought a noticeable
purple glow to the ON images. The activation beam seems imperceptible to the naked eye,
while fluorescent spots can be easily recognized after image processing.
Fig. 7. The sample object observed in ambient light with UV light (a) and without UV light
(b),
and the final image (c); the differential image is not shown since it appeared entirely black
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5. Summary and further work
We have presented how a solution idea may be reshaped to make it easier for PoC prototyping.
Additionally, the analysis allowed for refining the original solution concept making it simpler
and more energy-efficient. On top of this, the incremental prototype redefinition revealed two
candidate product variants having, supposedly, bigger market potential than the initial one.
These outcomes have been achieved by looking at the system from the perspective of required
functions and available resources rather than specific components.
The first prototype confirmed the ability to detect fluorescent markers in ambient light using a
weak UV activation beam inducing imperceptibly small color changes in the appearance of the
observed objects. The following project stages should be developing the second prototype and
then porting the solution to the Android smartphone platform to verify the third prototype.
References
1. Valeur, B., Berberan-Santos, M.N. "Molecular Fluorescence: Principles and Applications",
2nd ed., Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA: Weinheim, Germany, 2012.
2. Lötzsch D., Eberhardt V., Rabe C. "Chromogenic Materials". In: Ullmann's Encyclopedia
of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley 2016, pp. 1-26. doi:10.1002/14356007.t07_t01.
3. Chrząszcz J. "Using Off-the-Shelf Graphic Design Software for Validating the Operation of
an Image Processing System", Sensors 2021, Article number: 5104. doi:10.3390/s21155104.
4. Chrząszcz J. "Imperceptible Detection of Fluorescence – Using TRIZ to See the Invisible".
In: Souchkov, V. (ed.): Proceedings of the 16th MATRIZ TRIZfest-2021 International
Conference, pp. 83-97.
5. Karami, E., Prasad, S., Shehata, M. "Image Matching Using SIFT, SURF, BRIEF and ORB:
Performance Comparison for Distorted Images". 2015 Newfoundland Electrical and Computer
Engineering Conference, https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1710/1710.02726.pdf .
6. Lyubomirskiy, A., Litvin, S. Ikovenko, S., Thurnes, C.M., Adunka R. "Trends of Engineering
System Evolution (TESE): TRIZ paths to innovation", TRIZ Consulting Group, 2018.
7. Wu H. et al. "Eulerian video magnification for revealing subtle changes in the world".
ACM Trans. Graph. 31, 4, Article 65 (July 2012). doi.org/10.1145/2185520.2185561.
8. Allain, R.: "How to Make UV Light Out of Your Phone's LED Flash", WIRED (2016),
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/make-uv-light-phones-led-flash/ .
9. BlinkStick Nano, Agile Innovative Ltd, https://www.blinkstick.com/products/blinkstick-nano.
10. VideoCap SDK ActiveX, http://www.viscomsoft.com/popular-solution/117/videocap.
[ all online publications last accessed on May 31st, 2023]
Communicating Author: Jerzy Chrząszcz, jerzy.chrzaszcz@pw.edu.pl
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
CAUSE AND EFFECT CHAIN ANALYSIS - THE
ESSENCE OF UNDERSTANDING WHERE THE
PROBLEM OCCURS. CASE STUDY.
Jerzy Obojski
Consulting Jerzy Obojski
Abstract
This paper presents a case study of the application of Cause and Effect Chain Analysis as a method for
understanding the root cause of a problem. The methodology of the analysis is described in detail, in-
cluding the steps involved in identifying potential causes, assessing their significance, and determining
their interrelationships. The results of the case study demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in
providing a comprehensive understanding of the underlying causes of a problem and highlighting po-
tential areas for improvement. The study highlights the importance of considering multiple factors and
their interconnections in order to accurately diagnose and address complex problems. The findings of
this research contribute to the growing body of literature on the importance of root cause analysis in
TRIZ problem-solving and offer practical insights for organizations seeking to improve their problem-
solving processes.
The author's analysis revealed several interesting observations, such as the existence of multiple con-
tributing factors to the problem under study and the importance of considering both internal and external
factors in the analysis. The author also identified the potential for this method to be combined with other
root cause analysis techniques for an even more comprehensive understanding of complex problems.
Additionally, the author suggests that future studies could focus on the effectiveness of the Cause and
Effect Chain Analysis method in different industries and organizational settings, as well as the potential
for automation of the analysis process through the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Overall, the author believes that the Cause and Effect Chain Analysis has great potential for widespread
application in various fields and encourages further development of this method for more effective prob-
lem-solving.
Keywords: CECA, TRIZ, The Iceberg of Ignorance, External TRIZ consultant skills
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
81
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the concept of Cause and Effect Chain Analysis
Cause and Effect Chain Analysis is a TRIZ analytical tool that aims to identify the root cause
of a problem by tracing its effects back to their underlying causes
13
. This analysis is often used
in various fields, including business, engineering, and healthcare, to identify the factors that
contribute to a particular problem and to develop effective solutions.
The underlying principle of Cause and Effect Chain Analysis is that every effect has a cause,
and that cause, in turn, has another cause, and so on, forming a chain of causes and effects. The
analysis aims to identify the key factors in this chain, starting from the most immediate and
obvious causes and tracing them back to their underlying causes until the root cause is identi-
fied.
The analysis typically involves the use of a diagram called a "cause-and-effect diagram," "fish-
bone diagram," or "Ishikawa diagram," named after its inventor, Kaoru Ishikawa. The diagram
consists of a horizontal line representing the problem to be solved, with several "bones" branch-
ing off from it, each representing a potential cause. The main "bones" are typically labeled as
people, process, equipment, materials, environment, and management, although these catego-
ries can be modified to suit the specific problem being analyzed.
Once the diagram is constructed, the analysis proceeds by identifying the most immediate and
obvious causes and asking "why" until the root cause is identified
14
. For example, if the problem
is a high rate of customer complaints, the most immediate and obvious causes might be poor
customer service or product defects. Asking "why" repeatedly might reveal that the poor cus-
tomer service is due to insufficient training or understaffing, while the product defects are due
to inadequate quality control processes.
The ultimate goal of Cause and Effect Chain Analysis is to identify the root cause of a problem
so that it can be addressed directly, rather than just treating the symptoms of the problem. This
approach can lead to more effective and efficient solutions, as well as more lasting improve-
ments.
1.2 Importance of this analysis for problem-solving
Cause and Effect Chain Analysis is a powerful problems identification tool that has several
important benefits for individuals and organizations. Here are some of the key reasons why
Cause and Effect Chain Analysis is important
15
:
13
Litvin S., Lyubomirsky A. “Analysis of cause-and-effect chains of undesirable effects”.
Methodological Guide (in Russian). IMICenter, 1998.
14
Abramov О., Kislov A. “Cause-Effect Analysis of Engineering System’s Disadvantages”.
Methodological Guide (in Russian), Algorithm, Ltd., 2000.
15
Abramov O. “TRIZ-Based Cause and Effect Chains Analysis vs Root Cause Analysis”. Pro-
ceedings of the TRIZfest-2015 International Conference, Seoul, South Korea, pp. 288295,
MATRIZ 2015.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
82
1. Identifying the root cause: One of the primary benefits of Cause and Effect Chain Anal-
ysis is that it helps identify the underlying cause of a problem. By tracing the chain of
causes and effects, organizations can pinpoint the root cause of the problem and focus
their efforts on addressing it directly. This can lead to more effective and efficient solu-
tions and long-term improvements.
2. Promoting collaboration: Cause and Effect Chain Analysis typically involves multiple
stakeholders, such as employees, managers, and customers. By bringing these stake-
holders together to identify the root cause of a problem, organizations can promote col-
laboration and build consensus around the best course of action. This can help improve
communication and teamwork, as well as foster a culture of problem-solving and con-
tinuous improvement.
3. Preventing future problems: By identifying the root cause of a problem and addressing
it directly, organizations can prevent similar problems from occurring in the future. This
can lead to cost savings, improved efficiency, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
4. Improving decision-making: Cause and Effect Chain Analysis provides a structured
framework for problem-solving that helps individuals and organizations make more in-
formed decisions. By identifying the key factors contributing to a problem, organiza-
tions can make data-driven decisions that are more likely to lead to successful outcomes.
5. Enhancing quality and safety: Cause and Effect Chain Analysis can be particularly val-
uable in industries where quality and safety are critical, such as healthcare and manu-
facturing. By identifying the root cause of problems, organizations can improve their
quality control processes and reduce the risk of safety incidents.
In summary, Cause and Effect Chain Analysis is a great analytical tool that can help organiza-
tions identify the root cause of problems, promote collaboration, prevent future problems, im-
prove decision-making, and enhance quality and safety. By using this analysis, individuals and
organizations can become more effective problem-solvers and achieve better outcomes.
1.3 Outline the key principles and steps involved in the analysis
The Cause and Effect Chain Analysis (CECA) is a structured method for localize problems that
involves identifying the root cause of a problem by tracing its effects back to their underlying
causes. The CECA process involves several key principles and steps that must be followed to
ensure a thorough and effective analysis. Here is an outline of the key principles and steps
involved in the CECA process
16
:
1. Identify the problem: The first step in the CECA process is to clearly define the problem
that needs to be solved. This should be done in a way that is specific, measurable, and
relevant to the organization's goals and objectives.
16
Andersen B., Fagerhaug T. “Root Cause Analysis: Simplified Tools and Techniques”. 2nd
Edition, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, ASQ Quality Press, 2006.
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2. Define the scope: Once the problem has been identified, the next step is to define the
scope of the analysis. This involves specifying the boundaries of the problem and iden-
tifying any constraints or limitations that may impact the analysis.
3. Gather data: The next step in the CECA process is to gather data related to the problem.
This may involve collecting information from various sources, such as customer feed-
back, employee surveys, or process data.
4. Construct the cause-and-effect diagram: The cause-and-effect diagram is a visual rep-
resentation of the chain of causes and effects that lead to the problem. This diagram
typically includes several "bones" branching off from the problem, with each bone rep-
resenting a potential cause. The main bones are typically labeled as people, process,
equipment, materials, environment, and management.
5. Identify the immediate causes: The next step in the CECA process is to identify the most
immediate and obvious causes of the problem. This is done by brainstorming and using
other creative problem-solving techniques to identify potential causes.
6. Trace the chain of causes: Once the immediate causes have been identified, the CECA
process involves tracing the chain of causes back to their underlying causes. This is
done by asking "why" repeatedly until the root cause of the problem is identified.
7. Verify the root cause: Once the root cause has been identified, it is important to verify
that it is, in fact, the underlying cause of the problem. This may involve testing hypoth-
eses or conducting further research to confirm the cause.
8. Develop solutions: Finally, the CECA process involves developing solutions to address
the root cause of the problem. These solutions should be practical, feasible, and effec-
tive, and should be evaluated to ensure that they address the underlying cause of the
problem.
In summary, the CECA process involves several key principles and steps that must be followed
to ensure a thorough and effective analysis. By following these principles and steps, organiza-
tions can identify the root cause of a problem and develop practical solutions to address it.
2. Case study
2.1 Initial situation
In the Beverage company X, an issue was identified with mold growth in a plastic bottle of
orange juice, which was causing customer complaints and quality issues. The initial situation
involved a high number of customer complaints related to the quality and taste of juice from
that brand.
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Fig. 1. Orange juice bottle, that affected a mold growth inside.
The company recognized that this issue had the potential to harm its reputation and affect cus-
tomer loyalty, and therefore decided to launch internally a Cause and Effect Chain Analysis
(CECA) project to identify the root cause of the problem and develop solutions to address it.
The CECA project team was formed to address the issue, and the project was divided into sev-
eral stages. The first stage involved gathering data and conducting a root cause analysis to iden-
tify the underlying causes of the leakage issue. This involved collecting data on customer com-
plaints, product testing results, and production processes, as well as conducting interviews with
employees involved in the production process.
Each department was given the task of finding what could be the source of the problem. Quality
Control identified the number, origin of each of the cases reported by consumers and linked
them to a specific production lot. Production people checked once again whether all procedures
had been followed during the production of a given batch of juice. It was analyzed whether
there were any deviations or changes in parameters. Microbiologists analyzed data on chemical,
microbiological and acidity parameters of ingrediencies. The group responsible for packaging
analyzed statistical data on quality measurements of bottles and caps based on technical docu-
mentation. The testing group checked all present reports against results from previous years.
The next stage involved developing and testing potential hypothesis solutions to address the
root cause of the problem. This included generation new proposals of quality control measures,
improving the design of the caps, and modifying the production processes to ensure that the
mold are not appears.
Proposals for solutions were then to be presented to the management at a joint meeting, where
each department, based on its analyses, was to present what should be done. This multi project
approach should demonstrate in the assumption the importance of using structured problem-
solving methods like CECA to identify and address complex problems, and highlights the value
of taking a proactive approach to quality control and customer satisfaction.
2.2 CECA process
The Cause and Effect Chain Analysis (CECA) process was used by the company to identify the
root cause of the leakage issue that was affecting their beverage products. The CECA process
involves a structured approach to problem-solving that aims to identify the underlying causes
of a problem by tracing its effects back to their source. Unfortunately, at the joint meeting of
the departments presenting the results of the CECA analysis, no clear root causes of the problem
were identified. More focused on the fact that the analyzed parameters agree with the assumed
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ones, the measurement results are within the assumed tolerances, and the tests performed were
positive.
Here is a summary one of the department involved in the CECA process:
Define the problem: Possible leakage between cap and bottle.
Identify the scope: Analysis of the measurement results of bottles and caps with the applicable
technical documentation.
Gather data: Data was gathered on the production processes, quality control measures, and
customer complaints related to the leakage issue.
Fig. 2. Plastic cup design drawing and model.
Construct the cause-and-effect diagram: A cause-and-effect diagram was constructed to visu-
ally represent the chain of causes and effects that led to the leakage issue. This diagram included
potential causes such as defective cap seals, overfilling of bottles, and insufficient testing and
quality control measures.
Identify the immediate causes: The next step was to identify the most immediate causes of the
leakage issue, such as defective cap seals.
Trace the chain of causes: The CECA process involved tracing the chain of causes back to their
underlying causes by asking "why" repeatedly until the root cause was identified.
Verify the root cause: Once the root cause was identified, it was verified by conducting further
research and testing hypotheses.
Develop solutions: Finally, the CECA process involved developing and implementing solutions
to address the root cause of the leakage issue, such as improving quality control measures,
modifying the production processes, and improving the design of the caps.
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Fig. 3. The idea of build CECA diagram.
This approach of carrying out the CECA analysis by one department turned out to be insuffi-
cient. As a result of asking more questions, the group quickly entered the competence of another
department. (R&D, production, testing, packaging, quality, laboratories etc.) The theoretical
reasons demonstrated during this analysis must have met with a defensive reaction from another
department during the presentation of all departments meeting. As a result, instead of focusing
on the substantive aspect of the problem, it was shown that it is elsewhere.
2.3 The root cause of the problem
In order to motivate the squabbling departments, the hiring of an external consultant was nec-
essary. The new CECA interaction this time was implemented in an one interdepartmental
team.
17
After agreeing on rules, schedule, and how to work, the original problem was addressed
again. An investigative team consisting of experts in food safety, quality control, packaging,
manufacturing, testing and microbiology was appointed to conduct a thorough analysis of the
issue. The team followed a systematic approach that included the following steps:
1. Visual inspection and sampling: The team visually inspected the affected bottles and col-
lected samples of mold colonies. They documented the appearance, amount and location of the
mold and jointly ordered additional tests. The samples were sent to the laboratory for further
analysis.
2. Root Cause Analysis: The CECA process involved cross-departmental identification and
analysis of potential factors that contributed to mold growth. The investigation team investi-
gated various areas of the production and warehousing chain, including:
17
Obojski J, Kaplan L. ”TRIZ Problem Solving: Consulting vs. Facilitation” Proceedings of
the TRIZfest-2017 International Conference, Kraków, Poland, pp. 798233, MATRIZ 2017.
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A. Sources of Moisture: The team found that some batch bottles exhibited condensation, sug-
gesting a potential source of leakage. They inspected the production line and discovered a faulty
cooling system, resulting in excess moisture in the bottles.
B. Risk of contamination: The team reviewed hygiene practices during production and packag-
ing. They found that inadequate cleaning of bottling equipment allowed the presence of organic
matter that served as a food source for mold spores.
C. Quality Control Measures: The team evaluated quality control protocols, including cleanli-
ness checks, monitoring procedures, and employee training. They identified deficiencies in
equipment maintenance that were reducing the effectiveness of sanitation processes.
D. Packaging design and material: The investigation team examined the design of the bottle
and the composition of the plastic. They found that the bottle had intricate seams and crevices
that were difficult to clean thoroughly, providing ideal conditions for mold to grow. In addition,
the plastic used was characterized by higher moisture permeability, allowing moisture to pene-
trate over time.
E. Environmental factors: The team reviewed transport and storage conditions. They found that
the orange juice bottles were exposed to high temperatures during shipping, and that inadequate
climate control during storage led to increased humidity levels.
3. Correlation and Conclusions: After collecting and analyzing all the data, the research team
identified correlations and interactions between various factors. They concluded that mold
growth was due to a combination of moisture ingress from a faulty cooling system, organic
contamination, inadequate sanitation, poor packaging design, and unfavorable environmental
conditions during transportation and storage.
Recommendations and corrective actions: Based on their findings, the team proposed a number
of recommendations and corrective actions to prevent future cases of mold growth. They in-
cluded:
• Cooling system repair to prevent excess moisture in bottles.
• Implementation of rigorous cleaning and sanitizing procedures to eliminate organic contami-
nation.
• Improved quality control measures, such as improved equipment maintenance and employee
training.
• Optimization of packaging design to minimize gaps and use of plastic with lower moisture
permeability.
• Improved climate control during transport and storage to minimize temperature and humidity
fluctuations.
The final conclusions about mechanism of mold growth in a plastic bottle of orange juice was
caused by combination of several factors, including: the design of the cap and bottle seal, ex-
istence of mold spores, moisture, nutrients, blackout, oxygen, temperature 15-27°C, time of
presence external forces during the production process, and methods and procedures of quality
control.
During the Cause and Effect Chain Analysis (CECA) process on the mold growth in a plastic
bottle of orange juice issue, there were some surprising human behaviors that were observed.
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One of the most notable was the reluctance of some employees to report defects or issues with
the production process.
Despite the company's emphasis on quality control and continuous improvement, some em-
ployees were hesitant to report issues because they felt that it would reflect poorly on them or
their department. This reluctance to report issues led to a delay in identifying the root cause of
the leakage issue, which could have been addressed earlier if employees had felt comfortable
reporting defects or issues.
Another surprising human behavior during the CECA process was the tendency to focus on
individual incidents or occurrences rather than looking at the larger picture. Some employees
were more concerned with addressing specific incidents of leakage rather than identifying the
root cause of the issue and implementing long-term solutions.
This tendency to focus on individual incidents rather than the larger problem can be problem-
atic, as it can lead to the implementation of short-term solutions that do not address the root
cause of the issue. This can result in the issue resurfacing in the future, which can be costly and
time-consuming to address. This behavior was amplificon of the situation that we called The
Iceberg of Ignorance. The top level of management relay on the numbers, KPI’s and general
information about the strategic activities. As a results they assumed that a few issues that they
knows about it give them rights to go ahead because the risk is under control. From that per-
spective everything is according the best practices, rules and risk mitigation behavior. In reality
that is an effect of filtering bad news by upper managers levels. Let’s see how it works.
Fig. 4. The Iceberg of Ignorance effect.
Stuff who dealing with real process and knows about all problems, from some reasons some of
them keep it in secret to avoid punishment or losing a face etc. That portion of true situation is
delivered to Team Leaders. They from similar reasons made own correction of the reality. In
that case problems related with execution, control of employee should be presented in more
positive way to avoid potential bad impact for their position. As a chart shown the lost what
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Stuff know and Team Leaders about problems is about 26%. Very often they did a similar tasks,
and feel the reality of this kind of work.
The next level is gettering rapports by Team Managers, and here we observe the biggest loss of
information about the real problems. From the chart we can calculate the loss of known prob-
lems in range of 65%. That gap is explained from totally different background of TM. Here we
have white color workers that understand language of PM and don’t need knowledge about
process, machines and operations issues.
The Iceberg of Ignorance effect
18
is a phenomenon that highlights the vast disparity between
what leaders perceive and what employees actually experience within an organization. Coined
by consultant and author Sydney Yoshida in the late 1980s, the concept compares organiza-
tional issues to an iceberg, with the visible portion representing the problems known to man-
agement, and the larger, submerged portion symbolizing the hidden problems concealed from
their view.
According to research, the Iceberg of Ignorance effect suggests that top-level executives are
often unaware of a significant portion of workplace issues, which are more visible and known
at lower levels of the organization. This knowledge gap can impede effective decision-making
and hinder the resolution of critical problems. The reasons behind this information asymmetry
vary, including hierarchical barriers, ineffective communication channels, and a lack of em-
ployee engagement.
To address the Iceberg of Ignorance effect, organizations must foster open lines of communi-
cation and encourage feedback at all levels. Creating a culture of transparency, trust, and col-
laboration allows employees to share their experiences, concerns, and suggestions without fear
of retribution. Implementing regular feedback mechanisms, such as surveys, suggestion boxes,
or town hall meetings, can help surface hidden issues and ensure they are addressed promptly.
By acknowledging and addressing the Iceberg of Ignorance effect, organizations can bridge the
gap between leadership and employees, leading to improved decision-making, increased em-
ployee satisfaction, and a more productive and harmonious work environment.
That dangerous situations had place in beverage company during investigation about the leak-
age issue. Firstly the top white color try to deal with situation believes that all computer data.
KPI’s and own knowledge will be enough to fix it and close the topic. As a results after a few
rounds of CAECA they got a lot tough questions that there are no answers in charts, data and
KPI’s.
Despite these challenges, the CECA process ultimately proved to be an effective tool for iden-
tifying the root cause of the leakage issue and developing targeted solutions to address the issue.
By engaging employees in the process and emphasizing the importance of quality control and
continuous improvement, the company was able to improve the quality of their products and
reduce the number of customer complaints related to the leakage issue.
18
Nadja El Kassar (2018) What Ignorance Really Is. Examining the Foundations of Episte-
mology of Ignorance, Social Epistemology, 32:5, 300-310, DOI:
10.1080/02691728.2018.1518498
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In conclusion, the CECA process can uncover surprising human behaviors during the identifi-
cation of root causes of problems. To avoid these behaviors, it is important to establish a culture
of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. By doing so, employees will feel
comfortable reporting issues and focus on identifying the root cause of problems to develop
effective long-term solutions.
To overcome the Iceberg of Ignorance effect and avoid problems arising from a lack of
knowledge within beverage company organization, several strategies was implemented:
1. Encourage open communication: Create a culture that values open and honest commu-
nication at all levels. Encourage employees to share their insights, concerns, and ideas
without fear of reprisal. This can be done through regular team meetings, suggestion
boxes, or online platforms where employees can provide feedback anonymously.
2. Establish multiple feedback channels: Implement various feedback mechanisms, such
as surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one meetings, to gather information from employ-
ees at different levels of the organization. This ensures a diverse range of perspectives
and helps uncover hidden issues that may not be immediately apparent to top-level ex-
ecutives.
3. Flatten hierarchical structures: Foster an environment where hierarchical barriers are
minimized, and employees feel comfortable speaking up to share their knowledge and
experiences. Encourage cross-functional collaboration and promote a sense of owner-
ship and responsibility among all employees.
4. Conduct regular assessments: Implement regular assessments or audits to evaluate the
organization's overall health, identify potential knowledge gaps, and uncover underly-
ing issues. This could include reviewing employee satisfaction surveys, analyzing turn-
over rates, or conducting internal audits to assess operational efficiency.
5. Invest in employee development: Provide opportunities for continuous learning and de-
velopment for employees at all levels. Offer training programs, workshops, or mentor-
ing initiatives to enhance their skills, knowledge, and expertise. This empowers employ-
ees to contribute more effectively to the organization and helps bridge the information
gap.
6. Embrace technology and data: Leverage technology solutions, such as employee en-
gagement platforms or data analytics tools, to gather and analyze data regarding organ-
izational performance, employee sentiment, and key performance indicators. This ena-
bles leaders to make informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date information.
By implementing these strategies, organization eliminate and the Iceberg of Ignorance effect
and create an environment where knowledge is shared, problems are identified and resolved,
and decision-making is more effective and informed.
3. Conclusions
Based on the findings and process of Cause and Effect Chain Analysis (CECA) of mold growth
in a plastic bottle of orange juice issue, the following conclusions and recommendations can be
made:
1. The CECA process was an effective tool for identifying the root cause of the issue,
which allowed for targeted solutions to be developed and implemented.
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2. The root cause of the problem was related to the design of the cap seal, which was not
able to maintain a proper seal under certain conditions.
3. The mechanism of the mold growth was caused by the cap seal becoming dislodged or
damaged during the production process, which allowed juice degradation the bottle.
4. Improving the design of the cap seal to improve its ability to maintain a proper seal
under different conditions was a key solution to address the root cause of the mold
growth issue.
5. Implementing new quality control measures to identify and remove defective cap seals
before they are used in the production process was another important solution to reduce
the likelihood of the mold growth issues.
6. Modifying the production process to reduce the pressure and force exerted on the cap
during production was also an important solution to address the root cause of the mold
growth issue.
7. The CECA process can be applied to other quality control and production issues to iden-
tify the root cause and develop effective solutions.
8. Investing in quality control measures and production processes can improve the quality
of products and reduce customer complaints, which can have a positive impact on the
company's bottom line.
9. Engaging employees in the CECA process can improve their understanding of quality
control and production processes and lead to a culture of continuous improvement.
10. Regularly reviewing and updating quality control measures and production processes
can help prevent issues from occurring and ensure that the company is producing high-
quality products that meet customer expectations and avoid the Iceberg of Ignorance.
In conclusion, the CECA process was an effective tool for identifying the root cause of the
of mold growth in a plastic bottle of orange juice and developing targeted solutions to ad-
dress the issue. By implementing solutions related to the design of the cap seal, quality
control measures, testing and production processes, the company was able to improve the
quality of their products and totally eliminate of customer complaints related to this cus-
tomer dissatisfaction problem at all.
The CECA process and its solutions can be applied to other quality control and production
issues to offer generally value for end customers. The methodology knowledge, experience
and data as were presented sometimes is not enough. As was shown in case study there is a
need of ,,magic factor’’. Beverage company has all crucial ,,puzzles’’ but from others, in-
ternal reasons the output was not satisfy to eliminate the problem. The key decision was
hiring external TRIZ consultant who properly understand the internal blockers and big pic-
ture of the problem, placed puzzles in proper way. After that team was able bring solution
faster and better.
Leveraging the unique insights and skills of external consultants, organizations can leverage
their expertise to drive innovation, overcome challenges, and ultimately achieve sustainable
growth in an ever-evolving business landscape. Adopting a collaborative approach can
prove to be a winning formula for organizations seeking rapid success.
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References
1. Litvin S., Lyubomirsky A. “Analysis of cause-and-effect chains of undesirable effects”.
Methodological Guide (in Russian). IMICenter, 1998.
2. Abramov О., Kislov A. “Cause-Effect Analysis of Engineering System’s Disadvantages”.
Methodological Guide (in Russian), Algorithm, Ltd., 2000.
3. Abramov O. “TRIZ-Based Cause and Effect Chains Analysis vs Root Cause Analysis”.
Proceedings of the TRIZfest-2015 International Conference, Seoul, South Korea, pp. 288295,
MATRIZ 2015.
4. Andersen B., Fagerhaug T. “Root Cause Analysis: Simplified Tools and Techniques”. 2nd
Edition, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, ASQ Quality Press, 2006.
5. Obojski J, Kaplan L. ”TRIZ Problem Solving: Consulting vs. Facilitation” Proceedings of the
TRIZfest-2017 International Conference, Kraków, Poland, pp. 798233, MATRIZ 2017.
6. Nadja El Kassar (2018) “What Ignorance Really Is. Examining the Foundations of
Epistemology of Ignorance, Social Epistemology”, 32:5, 300-310, DOI:
10.1080/02691728.2018.1518498.
Communicating Author: Jerzy Obojski, jerzyobojski@gmail.com
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93
The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
“CREATE PRODUCTS"
A GAMIFICATION CONCEPT WITH TRIZ
ELEMENTS
FOR VET SCHOOLS IN AUSTRIA
Jürgen Jantschgi1, Wolfgang Pachatz2
1 Higher College for Engineering Wolfsberg (HTL Wolfsberg), Austria
2 Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Vienna, Austria
Abstract
Members of the Austrian Federal Working Group "Entrepreneurship for Engineers", established by the
Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research, developed a board game for one of the earliest
steps in innovation management – the task how to generate ideas for further product development.
The purpose or goal was to develop a board game for product development for engineering students
(first task group - students at Higher Colleges for Engineering in Austria) that answers the following
question: How should an attractive board game for product development look like, that has to fulfill
several requirements for the usage in a class teaching environment?
After two years and six meetings a prototype for an idea generation game is ready for prototyping use.
The players can learn four different creativity techniques (including their pros and cons) – while playing
the game.
The result is the board game, named "Create Products", where 3 or 4 groups of 1 to 3 members can take
part in a competitive game. Four creativity techniques - brainstorming, emotive words, inventive prin-
ciples and trends of evolution – can be experienced by the players. The aim is to get them interested in
creativity techniques and advanced innovation tools like TRIZ.
The paper and the presentation show how the board game “create products” works and give an insight
in the activities of the Austrian Federal working group “Entrepreneurship in Engineering Education”
and the international working group “EiEE” of IGIP (International Society for Engineering Pedagogy).
Keywords: board game, inventive principles, trends, entrepreneurship, creativity, gamification,
1. The Austrian Federal Working Group „EEE“ – Entrepreneurship Education for
Engineers
Entrepreneurship education is part of the curricula of the Austrian Technical Colleges (ISCED
55). A variety of different compulsory subjects provide basic entrepreneurship education com-
ponents in the curriculum. In addition to that, all curricula offer an optional subject, which
provides specified and focused entrepreneurship education. The decision if students can parti-
cipate in this subject has to be made by the school management.
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The Austrian Federal Ministry for Education established an expert group in 2010 to encourage
and foster entrepreneurship education at the Technical Colleges , also named as Higher Colle-
ges for Engineering (short „HTL“). The main objective of the expert group is to support and
promote all entrepreneurship related school activities.
At the HTL´s creative and innovative teachers meet young interested students with excellent
ideas for marketable products and services. Teachers for technical subjects need to have at least
a university degree and a four years working experience bevor they start teaching. So we can
assume that they are more familiar with entrepreneurship teaching than others are. “Entrepre-
neurship Education” should motivate, help and lead students and teachers in design thinking
and product development.
1.1 Entrepreneurship Education and the Austrian Federal Working Group EEE
The Austrian Federal Ministry of Education established a federal working group "Entrepreneu-
rship for Engineers" (Entrepreneurship Education at Higher Colleges for Engineering) in 2010.
Members of this working group are teachers from all nine federal states in Austria.
The Austrian Colleges for Engineering define their concept of "Entrepreneurship Education for
Engineers" as follows: Entrepreneurship Education for Engineers include …
• .. the usage of the technical and technological know-how of their students (their a-
bilities to design and build products)
• .. the extension of a basic, fundamental economic knowledge
(These 2 points mean strengthening their professional skills.)
• .. the building up and increasing of methodological competences, especially in the
areas of innovation & creativity
• .. the enlargement of these skills with social and personal skills
(teamwork, project management, self-confidence, power of persuasion, …)
The most important objectives of entrepreneurship education - Entrepreneurship Education for
Engineers – in vocational technical schools are
• to awake in students the enthusiasm to believe in their ideas and
• to motivate them to work on these ideas.
In the first years the activities of this working group resulted in several initiatives, e.g.:
• Development of an "Entrepreneuship for Engineers" guide.
Describing the tasks, goals and organizational structure of the working group, the
competences of an entrepreneur and educational goals in teaching entrepreneurship
subjects
• Offering several "EEE" seminars at pedagogical colleges for teachers
Seminars about methods and tools for innovation and creativity methodologies (also
with some elements out of TRIZ and Systematic Innovation)
• Assistance of the establishment of Junior Achievement companies
and further more
One important step in the further development of the working group was the decision to set up
a certification concept for schools and students especially for Colleges for Engineering, which
is described in the next chapter.
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Another aspect, which increasingly became the focus of the working group, was the search for
new playful approaches to bring the topic of entrepreneurial thinking closer to the students.
There are successful and well-known business games in the field of business education, which
are acquired and used at a number of Austrian schools through the initiative of the working
group. However, these are mostly aimed at understanding business processes and operational
key figures. For example „Factory“ and „Global Strategy“ (bti, Germany) or „Apples and Oran-
ges“ (Celemi, Sweden).
For the area of product development and therein for the topic of methodical creativity or prob-
lem solving, no playful approaches could be found that seemed to be usable in the affected
schools. As a result, some members of the working group decided, after approval from the
ministry, to work on their own game concept. The result of this work is described in the chapter
3 on the game "Create Products".
1.2 „EEE“-Certification Concept for Colleges for Engineering in Austria
In order to ensure that the entrepreneurship activities of the school sites are realistic, practice-
oriented and scientifically justified, it was decided that several institutions work together both
in the certification process as well as during the audit of the school sites.
The following stakeholders form the set of organizational units for the certification process:
• Certification organization (unit): IGIP Austria - International Society for Enginee-
ring Pedagogy): IGIP Austria is responsible for the definition and compliance of the
process and the granting of certificates
• Scientific partner (unit): Graz University of Technology, Austria & University of
Advances Sciences Vienna
• Operational unit: Federal Working Group „EEE“ (Austrian Federal Ministry of Edu-
cation)
• Quality Assurance (unit): An Entrepreneurship for Engineering "mentor": an expe-
rienced entrepreneur, who has to accompany the school over the whole schoolyear
• Auditing group (unit): 4 members from
o the Federal Working Group EEE
o the scientific partner (University of Technology Graz and/or University of Ad-
vances Science Vienna)
o the certification unit (IGIP Austria)
After a successful audit the school site gets the Certificate "Competence Center for Entrepre-
neurship Education in Engineering certified by IGIP Austria" and the school is allowed to cer-
tify their students within the valid time frame of 3 school years.
Following this procedure two Entrepreneurship for Engineering certificates – for the two target
groups - have to be distinguished and defined:
(1) Certificate for the school site
(2) Certificate for the students
For both target groups – the school site and the students - criteria for the Entrepreneurship for
Engineering certification have been defined, in which the criteria for the school site is again
separated in criteria for the school management and teachers and criteria for the Entrepreneu-
rship for Engineering godparent.
A) certification criteria for the school site
A1) certification criteria for the school management and the teachers
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A2) certification criteria for the Entrepreneurship for Engineering mentor
B) certification criteria for the students
In both lists of criteria mandatory and optional criteria are classified. All mandatory and a de-
fined number of optional criteria have to be fulfilled in a schoolyear.
Fig. 1: Logo Compentence Center Entrepreneurship Education in Engineering
1.3 EEE-Certified Colleges for Engineering
Until end of 2022 ten HTLs (Higher Colleges for Engineering) achieved the EEE-certificate.
Nine schools are spread across the Austrian. One is in Albania, where the Austrian Ministry of
Education runs an Austrian school specializing in information technology. Three schools have
already completed the first recertification, which is required after 3 years.
Fig. 1: 10 Austrian Higher Colleges for Engineering with EEE-Certification (December 2022)
2. The International Working Group EiEE (Entrepreneurship in Engineering
Education) of IGIP (International Society for Engineering Pedagogy)
2.1 IGIP – History and Aim
The International Society for Engineering Pedagogy IGIP was founded in 1972 at the Univer-
sity of Klagenfurt (Austria) by Adolf Melezinek.
The aims of the International Society for Engineering Pedagogy (IGIP) are
• improving teaching methods in technical subjects
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• developing practice-oriented curricula that correspond to the needs of students and
employers
• encouraging the use of media in technical teaching
• integrating languages and the humanities in engineering education
• fostering management training for engineers
• promoting environmental awareness
• supporting the development of engineering education in developing countries
IGIP is cooperating with other societies dedicated to engineering education, such as IEEE Edu-
cation Society, ASEE (the American Society of Engineering Education), SEFI (the European
Society for Engineering Education), or IFEES (the International Federation of Engineering
Societies).
(Source: https://igip.org/IGIP_mission.php)
Every year IGIP organizes an international conference named „ICL - International Conference
on Interactive Collaborative Learning“ together with partners.
2.2 The International IGIP Working Group EiEE and the ICL Conference
In 2016 the authors of this paper together with some other persons offered IGIP the idea to run
a so called Special Session „Entrepreneurship in Engineering Education“ at the ICL conference
and the trial was quite successfull. So the special session "EiEE" was also offered in the follo-
wing years. And in 2028 the IGIP Executive Committee decided to support the formation of
the new working group „EiEE“.
The "EiEE" session has since taken place at each of the annual conferences (2023 for the eighth
time) and is a permanent part of the event. Organizers are the authors of this paper.
Fig. 3: Homepage IGIP Working Group EiEE: https://igip.org/IGIP_working-groups_EiEE.php
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Fig. 4: Homepage ICL/IGIP Conference 2023 - https://icl-conference.org/current/
The aims of the IGIP working group EiEE are to promote the discussion of goals and experi-
ences to reinforce entrepreneurial education at engineering educational institutions (higher col-
leges for engineering, universities of technology, universities of applied sciences) and to estab-
lish an international network with the specific focus on entrepreneurship education for engine-
ers.
The aims of the IGIP working group EiEE are to promote the discussion of goals and experi-
ences to reinforce entrepreneurial education at engineering educational institutions (higher col-
leges for engineering, universities of technology, universities of applied sciences) and to estab-
lish an international network with the specific focus on entrepreneurship education for engine-
ers.
The EiEE working group aims to provide a platform to discuss the following questions:
• What are the specifics in entrepreneurship for the educational systems of engineers?
• Which content should be taught? Which teaching/learning methods should be applied?
• What do all the initiatives of the EC, etc… mean for the education of engineers?
• Which experiences can be shared within the IGIP community?
• Which role can and/or should IGIP perform?
Topics of Interest:
• educational goals
• educational contents & approaches
• best-practice examples
• national, european & international initiatives and projects
• funding programs in the fields of entrepreneurship & innovation management for engi-
neers
• challenges for the teacher's role in Entrepreneurship Education
(What makes a good entrepreneurial teacher?)
Chair: Stefan Vorbach, University of Technology Graz, Austria; Co-Chairs: Jürgen Jantschgi,
Higher College for Engineering Wolfsberg, Austria, & Wolfgang Pachatz, Austrian Federal
Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Vienna
(Source: https://igip.org/IGIP_working-groups_EiEE.php)
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3. The Boardgame "Create Products"
The starting point for the development of a special board game in the field of product develop-
ment was the agreement on a common understanding of the product development process by
the three people involved. These three members of the Austrian Federal Working group EEE
are Mr Franz Erkner-Sacherl (HTL Bulme Graz) , Mr Erich Scheffl (HTL Hollabrunn) and Mr
Jürgen Jantschgi (HTL Wolfsberg).
One of the members of the game development team, Mr. Franz Erkner-Sacherl, worked out an
overview-picture for an innovative, project orientated product development process. In this pic-
ture the impact of lessons out of the curricula from colleges for engineering in Austria on the
process steps and needed methods and competences are illustrated.
Fig. 2. "innovative, project orientated product development
processes – methods - specific lessons at colleges for Engineering (Austria)
Concept Franz Erkner-Sacherl, 2014 (german)
The first step in this process (in the middle of the grafic) is called "Innovative Ideen- & Pro-
duktfindung" – in English "innovative idea- und product generation".
Having this process together with some other models in mind the game development team
started to work out a concept for a game focusing on one of the first steps in product develop-
ment: A game to increase the interest in and the knowledge of creativity techniques.
3.1 Requirements and limitations
One important factor for the development of the board game "Create Products" was taking into
account the requirements and limitations of the school environment:
• The game should be playable within a sequence not longer than 50 minutes (some-
times 2 combined lesson will be possible, that means a duration about 100 minutes)
• The preparation to start the game should last not longer that 5 minutes.
• The explanation of the game should not last longer than 15 minutes – it should be
understandable in 10 minutes
• The number of players (students) should be between 8 to 12 participants.
• The game should be playable for teams (and/or for single persons)
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• The waiting time for the "non-playing" participants should be a minimum or they
should be included somehow in the game (scoring, …)
• It should be playable on 1 table
• Participation should make fun and should make the player interested in the crea-
tivity techniques, used in the game
At the beginning of the game development the different point of views - including their different
backgrounds of the four "developers" - caused several discussions about the overall concept of
a "game for product development or innovation management".
After two years and six meetings the "game development group" realised a prototype for the
idea generation game
3.2 Playground design & Course of the game
The playground is very similar to familiar boardgames like DKT or "Mensch ärger dich nicht",
which are very well known in Germany and Austria.
Players have to roll the dice and move their play figures on the playground, like on a street. The
fields on the playground-street have numbers from 1 to 8, represent-ing product-numbers.
These products are defined for starters or can be defined from the players before starting the
game.
If the play figure reaches a field with a "P-Joker", the player / team can choose one of all
available products on his/their own.
All creativity cards (they have to be well mixed before the game starts) are laying stacked with
the backside above. The one on the top defines the creativity technique and the specific random
word / inventive principle or trend of evolution. So with these two steps the product and the
creativity technique is defined.
Now the team has a certain time for generating ideas for a possible further product development
for the selected product with the selected creativity technique. Due to the fact that the different
creativity techniques have different a difficult level, the time – as well as the scoring - for ge-
nerating ideas is different for the four techniques.
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Fig. 4: Playground "Create Products"
Each team selects a secretary that has to fill out the idea card.
Fig. 5: Idea card "Create Products" (german)
3.3 Creativity techniques & evaluation of ideas
The following four creativity techniques were selected and fort hem 60 creativity cards have
been prepared:
• Brainstorming
• Random/emotive words
• TRIZ – Trends of Evolution
• TRIZ – Inventive Principles
Fig. 8: Example of Creativity Cards "Create Product" (german)
For the ideas that have been generated in each play round the idea maps are filled out. Herewith
the total point number can be calculated / determined.
For each idea the team receives the following points of evaluation
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Table 1. Creativity techniques, Board game "Create Products"
Method
Number cards
Degree difficulty
Factor
Brainstormig
10
1 - Easy
1
Random words
20
2 - Medium
2
Inventive principles (TRIZ)
10
3 – Difficult
3
Trends (TRIZ)
20
3 – Difficult
3
The remaining teams evaluate whether the ideas are permissible (corresponds to the method).
The idea may be defended and/or are explained. The evaluation can maximal last 10 seconds
for each idea. The team with the most points after a defined number of rounds is the winner!
4. First Tests, Questionnaire and Feedbacks
The game "Create Products" was tested from the developers during the last year with different
kind of players, mainly with students at Universities of Technology and students at Higher
College for Engineering in Austria.
In order to get a structured feedback from the "players" a questionnaire was designed. The
questionnaire used for collecting a first feedback was structured in the following seven topics:
• Top 1: Game Structure & Understanding Playing Cards
• Top 2: Gameplay & Duration
• Top 3: Content and Knowledge Acquisition
• Top 4: Didactic aspects
• Top 5: Number of players / teams
• Top 6: Fun & Game Repeats
• Top 7: Recommendation & Target Group(s)
For each topic the former players answered two to three questions. A summary of the answers
– calculation as percentage - are listed below: (Note: For this first evaluation 30 players filled
in the questionnaire)
Top 1: Game Structure & Understanding Playing Cards.
• 1-1 The intelligibility of the playing surface:20% very good / 60 % good
• 1-2 The intelligibility of the playing cards: 70 % good
Top 2: Gameplay & Duration.
• 2-1 The intelligibility of the gameplay: 10 % very good / 70 % good
• 2-2 The duration (one game round): 10 % very good / 60 % good
• 2-3 rating or points awarded: 30 % very good / 30 % good / 30 % bad
Top 3: Content and Knowledge Acquisition.
• 3-1 The comprehensibility of the overall goal (product development & idea genera-
tion): 60 % very good / 40 % good
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• 3-2 Teaching Simple Creativity Techniques: Brainstorming & Stimulus: 80 % very
good / 20 % good
• 3-3 The imparting of creativity techniques from TRIZ: innovation principles & trends
in technology development: 70 % very good / 30 % good
Top 4: Didactic aspects.
• 4-1 Are the contents suitable for this didactic concept (board game): 40 % very good /
60 % good
• 4-2 Further explanations and further learning materials should be kept separate from
the game: 20 % very good / 40 % good / 20 % bad
Top 5: Number of players / teams.
• 5-1 The ideal number of teams (currently max 4): 80 % - 3 !
• 5-2 The ideal number of team members - your opinion: 90 % - 3 !
Top 6: Fun & Game Repeats.
• 6-1 The fun factor of the game: 40 % very good / 50 % good
• 6-2 Probability to play this game more often - Game motivation: 10 % very good /
80 % good
Top 7: Recommendation & Target Group (s).
• 7-1 Would you consider this game suitable and recommendable for an education and
training institution? 90 % very good / 10 % good
• 7-2 For which target group is the game most suitable age: 10 % age 13-15 / 60 % age
16-19 / 30 % age > 19
5. Conclusions
Developing a board game for the early “idea generation” phase of the product development
process was fun and a very interesting learning curve for the development team.
After prototyping and testing the product - the board game "Create Products" - one conclusion
of the development team is that the concept of gamification can work very well for the idea
generation phase in the product development process.
The interest of the students to deal more intensively with methods in the field of creativity and
problem solving can be encouraged by getting to know the methods (especially TRIZ tools) in
a playful way. This should also increase interest in problem analysis methods.
Several options for further development have been discovered during the testing and elabora-
tion of the board game. It´s a work in progress.
Cooperation between international associations in the fields of engineering education and en-
gineering pedagogy (like IGIP) and in the field of methodical product development (like TRIZ
associations such as MATRIZ Official) should be promoted, since many common goals can be
pursued better in this way. Unfortunately, there are currently no or only very few connections
between these organizations, since many of the people involved do not know each other.
“Play is fundamentally important for learning 21st century skills, such as problem solving, col-
laboration, and creativity.”, American Academy of Pediatrics
Communicating Author: Jürgen Jantschgi, j.jantschgi@jantschgi.at
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
RESOURCE ANALYSIS FOR HIDDEN THREATS
IDENTIFICATION
Kirill Domkin
*JSC NPK-Consult, Moscow, Russia
Abstract
The method of resource analysis for direct problems in order to identify hidden threats is considered. It
is proposed to analyze the resources, taking into account the time interval and conditions for which
selected resource is used.
Keywords: resource, hidden threats, direct approach, inverse approach.
1. Introduction
Currently, there are two critical issues in TRIZ regarding resources:
1 How to find a large number of resources?
2 How to extract hidden resources?
There is a gap in TRIZ regarding the verification of the resources used for the potential danger
that they may hide in themselves.
This idea was prompted by the following, possibly fictional story posted on the Darwin Awards
website [1] :
«The accident occurred as the two men were in a frog-gigging trip. Truck's headlights malfunc-
tioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older model truck had burned out.
As a replacement fuse was not available, one of them noticed that the 22 caliber bullet from his
pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet,
the headlights again began to operate properly and the two men proceeded their ride.
After traveling approximately 20 miles and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently
overheated, discharged and struck driver in the right testicle. The vehicle swerved sharply to
the right, exiting the pavement and striking a tree...»
Let's not go into deep discussions about their mental abilities, but consider this situation from
the point of view of TRIZ.
2. Theory
Hill-like scheme is the most appropriate illustration of the problem solving process. (Fig. 1).
The scheme main idea is transformation real problem into a model, changing the model on the
generalized level and then obtaining real solution [2].
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Fig.1 Hill-like scheme
Nikolay Shpakovsky supplemented this scheme with various variations of resources. (Fig 2)
Fig.2 Multi-resourse hill-like scheme
3. Discussion
There was a problem - the fuse was burned out. The search for resources revealed an existing
resource - 22 caliber bullet. It had several attributes that satisfied the requirements for the re-
source: dimensions and conductivity. For a while, the problem was solved, because they man-
aged to drive from a few tens of meters to several miles. They did not take into account the
hidden threat that was contained in the resource.
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Fig.3 - Guide to Fuse Replacement :)
The essence of an inventive solution to any problem is the following: To make the best use of
the most appropriate resource in the right place and in the right time. According to initial situ-
ation with fuses the term right time needs to be clarified - how many miles they need to pass?
The figure 3 illustrates a humorous fuse replacement guide [3]. Despite the obvious incon-
sistency of these variants, they can be used in some temporary solutions.
According to TRIZ the resource classification is following:
- Material (substance)
- Energy (Field)
- Information
- Space
- Time
- System
- Operator (stakeholders)
Some danger factors of resource is described in Failure Anticipation Analysis (or in Anticipatory Failure
Determination). But there is still a gap in verification of some resources.
4. Results
The author proposes to use these checklists to check resources for hidden threats, as well as supplement
them with a check on the size-time-cost operator. System resources are supposed to be checked for the
presence of a harmful system. In non-technical TRIZ, the greatest potential will be the development of
checklists for checking human resources (resources of operators, stakeholders) for the presence of hid-
den threats.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank TRIZ-masters Nikolay Shpakovsky, Vladimir Petrov, Simon Litvin,
Alexander Kudryavtsev, Georgiy Severinets and Oleg Gerasimov for discussion, criticism and construc-
tive advice about this topic.
References
1. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-bullet-fuse/
2. https://www.gnrtr.com/Generator.html?pi=216&cp=3
3. https://external-
preview.redd.it/hMyKCqho5V2kdvWONIltMBwbE4nh7Y5zUFfZs5FhSjk.jpg?auto=webp&v
=enabled&s=479b2bd44666cb9ace6020f30040dc7d1b9bc64f
Communicating Author: Kirill Domkin, ego85@mail.ru
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
SOLVING TRIZ PROBLEMS WITH TRIZ
Malgorzata Przymusiala (L3)
* An individual TRIZ enthusiast, no affiliation
Abstract
Many TRIZ people agree with the authors of the MATRIZ Official founding letter that “TRIZ develop-
ment stagnated in the past several years. At the same time an appreciable number of new problem-
solving methodologies have emerged in different parts of the world recently. And the demand for this
type of services is growing exponentially. However, we firmly believe that TRIZ problem-solving tools
for inventive and innovative challenges are superior to any other problem-solving methodology devel-
oped so far”. So does the author of the paper. Partially.
There have been some meetings and discussions how to promote and disseminate TRIZ knowledge,
what to do to find more customers interested in TRIZ trainings and TRIZ projects. There were some
ideas proposed, but we still see no results. If we are really so good at solving problems as we claim, let
us prove it by solving TRIZ problems with TRIZ tools.
According to our own definition TRIZ is an engineering system, so we can analyse it as we do it with
any other system. Trends of engineering systems evolution apply to TRIZ itself, so expecting that TRIZ
will always remain unchanged contradicts with TRIZ fundamentals. Genrich S. Altshuller perfectly
knew that an engineering system, in order to be used and popular, to remain alive, must evolve to keep
up with expectations of changing world. The author does not agree with the claim that TRIZ develop-
ment stagnated. On contrary, we can observe a development of individual TRIZ tools. They are modi-
fied, being completed and updated, partially trimmed or merged with other systems, therefore they can
seem unrecognizable at the first sight, but they are used, effective and popular. The paper collected some
samples to prove that the claim “TRIZ is dying” (as some people say) is greatly exaggerated.
There is also a challenge for TRIZ associations – in 2023 a simple copying the frames of the TRIZ
association established by Altshuller is a way to nowhere. An association is also an engineering system
and its evolution should not surprise any person with at least basic level of TRIZ knowledge. The paper
includes also some insights about associations in XXI century.
Keywords: TRIZ, tools, development, change, engineering system, challenge, association
1. Two Ways of Stagnation
In some people’s opinion the TRIZ development slowed down or even stopped in the past few
years. Some TRIZ specialists even say “TRIZ is dying”. Such claims can be understood in two
ways:
• The popularity of TRIZ shrinks, i.e., the number of training decreases, the number
of certificates does not increase, there are no new projects, no new markets, no con-
ferences or meetings, customers disappear. TRIZ competitors perfectly mastered the
art of selling, or they just have better offers for the customers.
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• New ideas ceased to appear: there are no new tools developments, there are no ideas
to improve the existing tools, no new publications, no ideas of new applications.
Are there really any reasons to worry?
2. Numerical Data
MATRIZ Official, The International TRIZ Official Association, issued 643 certificates (L1:
558, L2: 50, L3: 34 and L4: 1) between 22 September 2022 and 07 May 2023. for people in 23
countries [1]. As the association was founded last year, there is no earlier data to compare and
evaluate the popularity of TRIZ, but the certificates data are also available on other websites
and the number of certified specialists still increases. The total number of certificates registered
by the “old” MATRIZ is over 37 000, while in 2014 it was about 17 000 [2]. The total number
of all TRIZ courses and workshops around the world is difficult to estimate, but the certified
ones are only a part of them. 26 publications related to TRIZ appeared in the first 18 weeks of
2023 on only one of the social networking sites for scientists and researchers, while the total
number of TRIZ-related publications gathered on this site is 4514 [3]. There are many TRIZ-
related events (conferences, webinars, meetings, training, workshops, etc.) held in 2023:
Google search shows over 600 000 results to “TRIZ events 2023” [4].
Fig. 1. Google search results for “TRIZ events 2023”, a section of the screenshot
The Amazon “books” category shows about 600 items related to “TRIZ” and the list comprises
translations of G.S. Altshuller’s books as well as new publications [5]. Some of them are really
worth attention, some of them seem not to discover anything original, but the number of publi-
cations is so big that it is impossible to study them all.
Fig. 2. Amazon search results for “TRIZ” in “Books” section, a section of the screenshot
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Taking into consideration all the numbers shown above, the situation with TRIZ seems not to
be disturbing. Do all those people still write, discuss and practise the existing TRIZ tools only
and nobody has any new ideas? Probably not.
However, something must be wrong if a group of experienced TRIZ Masters, the best problem
solvers, decided to express their concern about the current situation. One question arises imme-
diately: does TRIZ community use their own tools to solve problems with TRIZ? Let us check.
3. TRIZ on the S-curve
TRIZ itself is an engineering system, it evolves according to the same rules as all the other
engineering systems do, and TRIZ specialists are aware of it. No system has ever emerged as
a perfect one, an ultimate version of itself. The history of TRIZ is a history of changes and the
best example here is the most advanced classical tool, ARIZ, the Algorithm of Inventing Prob-
lem Solving. The path to the ARIZ-85B, the latest version of the algorithm, refined by G.S.
Altshuller, leads from the rough ARIZ-56, through ARIZ-59, ARIZ-61, ARIZ-64, ARIZ-65,
ARIZ-68, ARIZ-71, ARIZ-75, ARIZ-77 and ARIZ-82 [6]. Either the list of 40 inventive prin-
ciples did not appear suddenly: at the beginning in 1956 there were only 5 of them, the next 18
were developed in 1958, then the next new principles were added in 1964 and the list was
completed in 1971 [7].
TRIZ evolves according to the Trends of Engineering System Evolution (TESE). Causes, indi-
cators and recommendations for each stage of the system evolution on the S-curve have been
formulated and they are taught at L2 and L3 training classes. The stage of TRIZ development
has been also identified, “since it is not on the market everywhere, TRIZ as a method is probably
at the transitional stage” [8]. The way to the success seems clear, the only thing to do is to follow
the recommendations and the system will reach the next level of development. There are fol-
lowing recommendations for the transitional stage:
• The Engineering System must be launched into the market as quickly as possible.
• All parameters must be acceptable; at least one must be an A+ (champion) parameter.
• Develop the Engineering System in a field where the champion parameter is most im-
portant (the best ratio of advantages to disadvantages).
• The Engineering System should continue to be adapted to the existing infrastructure
and resources.
• Big changes can still be made to the Engineering System, but not to the principle of
action [9].
4. Are the Recommendations Followed?
Not all of them. No doubts that TRIZ has not been widely spread around the globe yet. Although
it has been definitely launched into the market, it is present in some market niches only.
Unfortunately, there is a surprising issue with TRIZ at the second recommendation: the cham-
pion parameter of the methodology has not been clearly identified. The question about it had
been asked to several experienced TRIZ specialists, but every single answer pointed out some-
thing different. One of the TRIZ Masters even said that the issue the champion parameter of
TRIZ would be worth a separate conference. Thus, the first suggestion is: let us define the
champion parameter and promote it as quickly as possible to open the door to the second stage
of TRIZ development.
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However, there is another important question, that must be answered before pointing out the
champion parameter: what is TRIZ? According to the TRIZ Body of Knowledge [10], “contem-
porary TRIZ is both a theory of technology evolution and a methodology for the effective de-
velopment of new technological systems”. Looking for the champion parameter for the theory
or methodology can be difficult as the notions are too general, too fuzzy. Does it mean TRIZ
specialists are not able to use their own tools to solve their own problems and achieve the next
step of system evolution? No. We could reach for one of the classical TRIZ models of solution
and follow the recommendation of the Inventive Principle No.1, “Segmentation: divide an ob-
ject into independent parts”. The model suggests to analyse each component separately, instead
of looking for champion parameter for TRIZ as a whole. TRIZ Body of Knowledge includes a
list of contemporary tools, so pointing out a champion parameter for each of them, or for small
toolkits, should require less effort. Once the champion parameter is identified, the areas where
it is most important would be easier to spot.
The recommendation in terms of adaptation to the existing infrastructure and resources has
been already followed: TRIZ is being introduced to some companies along with other methods
[11], TRIZ is being taught at many universities, but also in kindergartens [12].
5. Changes in TRIZ
The last recommendation allows changing the system, provided the principle of action is pre-
served. What can be changed in TRIZ? TRIZ Body of Knowledge, published in 2008, empha-
sizes that this is a starting point to develop a comprehensive body of knowledge comprising the
contemporary TRIZ and specifies the criteria of recognizing a concept, component or tool:
• It has to be used by the majority of TRIZ schools in the world (not surprisingly, most of
these elements of TRIZ were either authored and co-authored by or were developed in
close collaboration with Genrikh Altshuller).
• It has to be used in the majority of non-commercial publications on TRIZ authored by
TRIZ Masters
• It has to be used in the majority of TRIZ courses presently offered in the world [13].
These criteria immediately rise a question about the way from the completely new idea to the
concept, component or tool recognized and used by the majority of TRIZ schools.
6. Introducing Changes
Things were simpler in Altshuller’s time: as a creator of the methodology, he had the right to
decide about the introducing new tools. After his death in 1998, the TRIZ community had to
face the problem of updating the methodology. There is a body called TRIZ Research and De-
velopment Council in the “old” MATRIZ, but in spite of the regulations [14] no piece of infor-
mation about their work can be found on the website at the moment. There is a website entry
called TRIZ R&D Council Coordination Group on TRIZ Developments Regulations [15], and
the only one document available is TRIZ Assumptions Revision, published in 2014, which “rep-
resents the collective/collaborative vision of several major TRIZ schools that are participating
in TRDC” [16]. TRIZ Body of Knowledge, despite of expectations (“In preparing this document,
we not only intend to lay the foundation for defining the boundaries and content of modern
TRIZ, but also hope to open a discussion on these topics among the people for whom TRIZ has
become a profession. We believe that such a discussion is necessary for the healthy develop-
ment of TRIZ”) [17] has not been updated for a long time.
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The number of TRIZ certificates is growing worldwide, not to mention TRIZ users off certifi-
cation systems. Do all the people know TRIZ Body of Knowledge? Glossary of TRIZ and TRIZ-
related terms [18]? If so, are they aware that these documents may be a subject of change? Who
can change it and how? Perhaps disadvantages of information flow within the TRIZ community
are the problem here? Fortunately, there is the flow analysis among TRIZ tools, and such dis-
advantages should be easy to identify and to deal with, but there is one important thing missing
here: a procedure of updating the methodology [19].
New concepts do appear in books [20], conference papers [21], TRIZ Master dissertations [22],
but not being discussed, supported and promoted, they gain a limited popularity or go forgotten
soon after being published. A person initiating a new concept, or a change in an existing one,
must be aware that a path from an idea to a popular tool comprised in TRIZ Body of Knowledge
is long, however it is based on certain rules, which are transparent and easily available. There
should be a procedure that guarantees unbiased experts opinions, but also opens discussion on
a wide forum, thus supporting the promotion of the novelty within the TRIZ community. On
the other hand, such procedure would assure high-quality results, by eliminating attempts to
reinvent a wheel. The reasons of rejection should be always explained by experts. The justifi-
cation could have an important educational function, especially because “the modifications to
ARIZ and other tools became the favourite pursuit of TRIZ novices” [23]. At the moment it is
unclear how to update methodology and who can do it. The criteria alone are not sufficient,
there must be a procedure of introducing changes and modifications, otherwise everybody can
create anything and call it TRIZ.
7 TRIZ Associations in XXI Century
In Altshuller’s time the information flow among any association members was much slower
than today. Nowadays there are many opportunities to contact immediately, to exchange ideas
and opinions with no in person meetings: there are websites, newsletters, Internet discussion
forums, chats, instant messaging applications, webinars and online meetings available for eve-
rybody around the globe. New technologies of information exchange and new channels of com-
munication can keep members active throughout the year, not just during conferences. The only
goal to achieve is to make the information flow as efficient as possible, because it takes more
than a message and a channel to communicate [24]. The flow analysis can be helpful to improve
the communication among TRIZ specialists.
The first step towards the better communication within TRIZ community has been already
made: some TRIZ associations, contrary to the “old” MATRIZ, which is an association of re-
gional organizations only, provide an individual, paid membership and there are sets of benefits
available exclusively for members [25] [26]. MATRIZ Official, The International TRIZ Offi-
cial Association, offers a discussion forum among their benefits. It seems to be the good place
where new ideas could be presented, discussed and – in case of a formal acceptance – promoted
among the community. The idea of paid membership and a forum available exclusively for
members, is a way to prevent problems like spam or off topic content, however an active mod-
eration, based on certain rules, is an absolute condition for such forum to be a vivid and friendly
place to share thoughts for experienced professionals and for beginners as well.
The promotion of new concepts and tools is essential, otherwise there is no chance for them to
be spread within TRIZ community and used by majority of schools and presented in majority
of courses. This is the key role of associations: to enhance the effective information flow among
their members.
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8 Conclusions
Although G.S. Altshuller decided to stop working on problem solving tools at some moment,
and focused his attention on the issues of development of creative personality [27], it does not
mean the toolkit has already reached its ultimate version. Almost 25 years have passed since
Altshuller’s death, and during this time many changes have taken place in the world. In new
circumstances new challenges emerged, thus the necessity to refine tools as well as introduction
of novelties are natural consequences. The stage of TRIZ evolution is identified, the recom-
mendations for the stage are known. Lack of clearly defined champion parameter of TRIZ pre-
vents following all the recommendations and may be the factor that slows down the evolution
of the system. TRIZ community needs a transparent procedure of introducing new things and
modifications to the methodology. Such procedure, similarly to TRIZ Body of knowledge,
should common for major TRIZ organizations. The main goal of associations in XXI century
is to enhance the information flow by application of new communication technologies. Effec-
tive information exchange among TRIZ specialists is the fundamental of further development
of the methodology.
Changes are inevitable and we must deal with them, because “during the transitional stage, the
product’s reputation is essential” [28]. The best way to build the reputation of TRIZ is to prove
its efficiency and reliability, i.e., to solve problems with TRIZ using TRIZ tools – the best
problem-solving toolkit developed so far.
References
1. CERTIFIED TRIZ PRACTITIONERS, SPECIALSITS AND MASTERS http://www.matriz-
official.net/index.php/certification/2-uncategorised/17-certified-triz-practitioners . Last
accessed 10 May 2023
2. List of certified TRIZ specialists https://matriz.org/matriz-offices/council-on-expertise-and-
methodology-cem/certification/lists-of-certified-triz-specialists/ . Last accessed 10 May 2023.
3. Publications related to “TRIZ” https://www.researchgate.net/topic/TRIZ/publications . Last
accessed 10 May 2023
4. Google search results for “TRIZ events 2023”
https://www.google.com/search?q=triz+events+2023&oq=TRIZ+&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i60
j69i61j69i60j69i65l3j69i60.3587j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Last accessed 10 May
2023
5. Amazon search results for “TRIZ”, in category “books”
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=TRIZ&rh=n%3A283155&dc&ds=v1%3A4IkKkBkTzlPE2Wj
QG5wFpUIx5rwoosi%2Fsqc%2BmYW08Ew&crid=2NVQWAF85ZAKD&qid=1684435655
&rnid=2941120011&sprefix=triz%2Caps%2C189&ref=sr_nr_n_1 Last accessed 10 May
2023
6. Альтшуллер Г.С, ИСТОРИЯ РАЗВИТИЯ АРИЗ, 1986 https://altshuller.ru/triz/ariz-
about1.asp . Last accessed 10 May 2023
7. Markov S., 40 Inventive Principles in classical and modern TRIZ,
https://geniusrevive.com/en/40-inventive-principles-in-classical-and-modern-triz/ . Last
accessed 10 May 2023
8. Lyubomirskiy A., Litvin S., Ikovenko S., Thurnes Ch., Adunka R. Trends of Engineering
System Evolution (TESE), TRIZ Consulting Group GmbH, Sulzbach-Rosenberg, 2018, p.20
9. GEN3 Partners Inc., Ikovenko S., L3 training materials, 2007-2017
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
114
10. Fey V., Litvin S., Rubin M., TRIZ Body of Knowledge, 2008
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315611273_TRIZ_Body_of_Knowledge . Last
accessed 10 May 2023
11. Shaughnessy H., What Makes Samsung Such An Innovative Company?, “Forbes”, 07 March
2013, https://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/03/07/why-is-samsung-such-an-
innovative-company/ . Last accessed 18 May 2023
12. TRIZ methods in kindergarten.
https://minikar.ru/en/tests/metody-triz-v-detskom-sadu-ispolzovanie-metodov/ . Last accessed
10 May 2023
13. Fey V., Litvin S., Rubin M., Op. cit. p.2
14. TRIZ Research and Development Council Regulations https://matriz.org/trdc-regulations/ .
Last accessed 10 May 2023
15. TRIZ R&D Council Coordination Group on TRIZ Developments Regulations
https://matriz.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/TRDC-TRIZ-Coordination-Group-
Regulations.pdf . Last accessed 10 May 2023
16. Barkan M, TRIZ Assumption Revision, 24 January 2014, https://matriz.org/triz-assumption-
revision/ . Last accessed 10 May 2023
17. Fey V., Litvin S., Rubin M., Op. cit. p.1
18. Souchkov V., Glossary of TRIZ and TRIZ-Related Terms, MATRIZ, 2018
https://matriz.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/TRIZGlossaryVersion1_2.pdf . Last accessed
10 May 2023
19. Pay attention that the document Goals, Functions and Regulations for Expertise Group on
TRIZ Publications says about correlation to the Body of Knowledge, not about introducing
updates. https://matriz.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/TRDC-TRIZ-Expertise-Group-
Regulations.pdf . Last accessed 10 May 2023
20. For example: Petrov V., Voronov G, A New Approach to Su-Field Analysis, 2013, ISBN:
9781696203678
21. For example: Mann, D., Matrix 2022: Re-imagining the Contradiction Matrix,
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-86614-3_16 . Last accessed 10 May
2023
22. For example: Mayer O., Increased Addressing of Human Senses as a Trend,
https://matriz.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/O.Mayer-TRIZ-Master-dissertation.pdf . Last
accessed 10 May 2023
23. Zlotin B., Zusman A., ARIZ on the Move, 1998, https://www.metodolog.ru/triz-
journal/archives/1999/03/e/index.htm . Last accessed 10 May 2023
24. The six factors of an effective verbal communication,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakobson%27s_functions_of_language Last accessed 10 May
2023
25. Membership regulations of MATRIZ Official, 11.03.2023, http://www.matriz-
official.net/index.php/membership/2-uncategorised/32-membership-regulations-of-matriz-
official . Last accessed 10 May 2023
26. Membership in Altshuller Institute (AI), https://www.aitriz.org/membership . Last accessed 10
May 2023
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
115
27. Souchkov V., A Brief History of TRIZ, 2009 - 2016
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332935983_A_Brief_History_of_TRIZ Last
accessed on 10.May 2023
28. Lyubomirskiy A. et al., Op. cit. p.18
Communicating Author: Malgorzata Przymusiala, m.przymusiala@wp.pl
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
PIONEERING BORNEO TRIZ AND FURTHER
PROLIFERATE KNOWLEDGE WITH REMOTE
LOCATIONS
Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer1, Rohaya Mohd-Nor1, Mohamad Kadim Suaidi1, Awangku Merali
Pengiran Mohamed2 and Tan Eng Hoo3
1 University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), 2 Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak
(TEGAS), and 3 Malaysia TRIZ Innovation Association (MyTRIZ)
Abstract
TRIZ knowledge has made its way from Russia to many places around the world. It arrived in South
East Asia in early 2000 and made great proliferation led by the Malaysia TRIZ community from 2010.
With a focused effort to share knowledge, more than 15,000 practitioners were certified in the region
over 10 years. Many achievements enjoyed “city” advantage and lacked “rural” comparative support.
This paper describes how TRIZ finds its way to Borneo-island. It will document the journey and relate
how less-populated locations with limited infrastructure and resources embrace the innovation culture
while preserving the traditional tribal way of life. This paper will cover the multifaceted knowledge
proliferation and development effort through the pioneering and formation of the Borneo TRIZ commu-
nity. It showcases the creativity of the community equipped with TRIZ to solve unique local problems
and develop solutions that address challenges of constrained resources.
1. Inventive problem
The discovery of 40 Inventive Principles by Genrich Altshuller has not only benefitted many
inventors around the world but has inspired an adaptation of the knowledge into the develop-
ment of an ecosystem for promoting a knowledge-based society. Building on the core set of 40
Inventive Triggers, a community-centred approach was undertaken in Sarawak. The set of trig-
gers as cards was initially intended to assist school students in learning about inventions, turned
to be a tool to motivate a native community to document their tribal knowledge. Further sharing
of the TRIZ methodology and tools with remote indigenous communities of Borneo Island has
led to the use of the inventive knowledge to connect to their implicitly held traditional
knowledge.
Sarawak, the largest state of Malaysia, has stepped up its focus on innovation and talent devel-
opment as it strives to transform toward a developed state target by 2030. The state houses a
population of 2.9 million consisting of more than 40 ethnic groups, majority from indigenous
communities spread across a vast 48,000 sq. miles of one of the oldest and most biodiverse
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117
rainforests in the world. The state aspires to address the challenges of driving sustainable inno-
vation development while preserving its living indigenous heritage. In a quest to address the
digital divide, it is important to ensure that all communities, especially those in remote locations,
are included and not excluded in the development efforts. Furthermore, efforts in modernization
and catching up with the development agenda, in spite of noble intentions, often lead to conflicts
by overlooking cultural preservation, causing a steady erosion of the local living cultures.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), a leading university in Sarawak, undertook the chal-
lenge to ignite a strategic change for its institution and state. In the UNIMAS Strategic Plan
2021-2025, it has committed to play an active role in fulfilling the state and country’s aspira-
tions to deliver highly skilled and competent innovative workforce while preserving the tradi-
tions within the boundary of advancing infrastructure by 2030. A pioneering undertaking of
leveraging inventive problem solving as a way forward was explored. The graphic representa-
tion of the inventive problem and solution generation approach is summarized in Figure 1. The
Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) methodology was adopted to tackle contradictory
needs of balancing development needs without comprising inherent cultures and traditions. The
methodology complemented the Strategic Change Management framework and refined the
thinking in strategy development and implementation.
Figure 1: Inventive problem statement and solution generation approach
2. Research methodology
With the rapid adoption of digital technology, the modern world is experiencing an unprece-
dented pace of changes that require constant monitoring of the changes and building a system
that is flexible to respond to these changes. The UNIMAS Leadership has benefitted from the
adoption of the Strategic Leadership and Change Management Framework with consideration
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118
of environmental changes. The model was documented and published by P. Schoemaker, S.
Heaton, D. Teece in 2018.
The Strategic Change Management Framework, as shown in Figure 2, encouraged strategic
leaders to closely monitor environmental changes in 4 key conditions; V-volatility, U-uncer-
tainty, C-complexity, and A-ambiguity. Leaders are encouraged to use their leadership skills
to sense (anticipate the future and challenge the status quo), seize (interpret the trends and de-
cide the strategic change), and transform (align the workforce and encourage continuous learn-
ing) to look ahead, plan in advance, and move the organization forward.
Figure 2: Dynamic capabilities, strategic leadership, and change framework
Through the collaboration of UNIMAS’s Leadership Centre and the Institute of Social Infor-
matics and Technological Innovation, the awareness of contradiction analysis as part of the
strategic change initiative has taken serious consideration. The Strategic Change Management
framework and TRIZ methodology were used to resolve the identified contradictions, develop
a change strategy, analyze organizational capabilities, and refine the implementation plan.
The work of Silverstein, DeCarlo, and Slocum, shared in 2007, guided the usage of TRIZ into
the strategic change initiative to achieve the competitive advantage. Figure 3 shows the inclu-
sion of TRIZ elements. TRIZ concepts enhance operational excellence with its inclusion in both
strategic and operational leadership aspects. It enhances innovation velocity with the adoption
of TRIZ tools in process management and quality assurance drives. Third, the TRIZ elements
must take a top- to-bottom role in people functions.
Figure 3: TRIZ and Strategic Change Initiatives
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119
The TRIZ ideality concept was used to think of the ideal system. It derives the concept of the
Ideal Campus. This idea excited senior management and was used to guide the majority of its
strategic change plans.
Several inventive principles, such as no. 1-segmentation, no. 3-local quality, no. 15-dynamicity,
and no. 22-blessing in disguise, contributed significantly in shaping the solutions to the changes.
The Su-Field model was also used to map a Transformation roadmap for individuals in the
system.
When the strategy was mapped with the strategic change management and implementation fac-
tors, as shown in Figure 4, it highlighted two major needs. One need is to establish an innovation
ecosystem (externally to university), not just about making changes within the university (in-
ternally). The second need is formalized as a cross-organization coordination body to ensure
coherent of alignment, monitoring, and implementation: this mooted the idea of Borneo TRIZ
formation.
Figure 4: Manage and implement strategic change factors
The main strategic goal was to develop a highly skilled and competent innovative workforce
(people) while preserving local traditions (culture) and strengthening community inclusion
(people). The second strategic goal is to conserve resources and minimize waste to protect the
environment (environment), while advancing the modern infrastructure (infrastructure) by 2030.
This research paper will focus on the main strategic goals of leaders, people, and culture.
3. Key Results
3.1 Ideal Campus
During the UNIMAS strategic change management retreat at the end of 2018, with a selected
number of senior leaders exposed to some knowledge of TRIZ, the Ideality concept was referred
to begin the strategic thinking process with the end in mind. The picture of an ideal system
delivering all its benefits but not of its cost or harm, led to the idea of the UNIMAS Ideal
Campus. The objectives were to develop UNIMAS toward a self-driven, self-sustained, and
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
120
innovatively nurtured institution. Its functionalities were identified and summarized in Figure
5.
Figure 5: Ideal Campus and its functionalities
It is critical to involve all human resources directly or indirectly affected by the strategic change
to be part of the effort. With this understanding, the UNIMAS senior leaders made a landmark
decision to train all middle managers of the university with TRIZ. The decision marked a first
for a university to proliferate TRIZ organization-wide in Malaysia and South East Asia. More
than 200 university administrators were TRIZ trained in 2019 and 2020. Before the decision,
118 TRIZ Level 1 practitioners consisted of academicians and postgraduate students from 2011
to 2018 were trained. A trajectory climbs of TRIZ trained practitioners from 15 pax per year
for 8 years (2011 to 2018) to 100 pax per year in 2 years (2019 and 2020). The momentum also
propelled sharing with undergraduates, where more than 1,200 students from 4 faculties were
trained since 2019.
3.2 Indigenous community outreach
The Ideal Campus also launched Collaborative Engagements between different faculties in the
university. The collaboration engagement framework is shown in Figure 6 below.
Figure 6: UNIMAS Collaboration Engagement Framework
Two research clusters emerged from this idea. The first cluster works on Bio-medical Technol-
ogy with TRIZ from a collaboration with the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (FHMS)
and the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT). The second cluster
works on the study of an indigenous innovation spearheaded by the Institute of Social Infor-
matics and Technological Innovation (ISITI).
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The work by ISITI resulted in the adaptation of the TRIZ 40 Inventive Principles using local
examples. The adaptation idea came from the Local Quality inventive principle and the initia-
tive to share advanced knowledge with the indigenous community. The adapted inventive prin-
ciples were presented in the form of Inventive Trigger Cards. It is a set of 40 cards with the
knowledge and made available in two languages, namely English and Bahasa Malaysia.
The indigenous communities living in far-in land could relate to the inventive principles as
documented in the Trigger Cards. The use of the 40 inventive cards has become the intermedi-
ary between the communities to bridge the gaps in terms of articulating and connecting their
past innovation expressions in a contemporary context.
3.3 Strategic Transformation Pathway
The adoption of TRIZ has contributed to the university’s strategic change process. It consoli-
dated the distributed and isolated innovation efforts into a coordinated and sustainable innova-
tion agenda. Using the Su-Field model concept, the organization transformation process is sum-
marized in Figure 7a.
Figure 7a. Organization-level Transformation Strategy
Further usage of the Su-Field model concept was adapted into a people scenario and focused
on the individual level, the changes at the strategic level led to a clearer transformation stage
career pathway description. Four main transformation stages are documented to guide and di-
rect middle and working levels through the changes. The transformation stage is demonstrated
in Figure 7b. These pathways helped clarify the change initiative and process, and are useful
for performance management, career and succession planning processes.
Figure 7b: Individual-level Transformation Strategy
3.4 TRIZ@Industry
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Proliferating TRIZ to local state-level industry is a key part of the proliferation plan. When a
senior leader of the university was charged after attending the International TRIZ Level 3 Pro-
fessional course, the secret of the TRIZ methodology was communicated with a key energy
company named Sarawak Energy. The state-government-linked company was supportive and
training started in 2018 and 2019.
A total of 34 TRIZ Level 1 Practitioners from the company were trained in 2018, followed by
26 TRIZ Level 2 Practitioners and 20 TRIZ Level 3 Practitioners equipped with advanced TRIZ
tools in 2019. The seed was sown, but the rotation of leaders within and a restructuring process
deprioritized the learning and stalled proliferation and adoption. It may take longer incubation
period but we are sure the momentum will be reignited.
3.5 TRIZ Olympiad
The TRIZ momentum has not only inspired people within the university but also reached the
Sarawak Youth Economic Development Foundation (TEGAS). Through the leadership and
partnership of TEGAS, UNIMAS, and MyTRIZ, the TRIZ Olympiad program was initiated.
The objective was to equip students with advanced problem solving skills, develop their cogni-
tive skills, and build a network of stakeholders.
The Olympiad TRIZ program took on a three-prong implementation strategy. Strategy one in-
volved training the school teachers. With the support of the State-Level Education Department,
teachers with a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) background were
identified and trained.
Strategy two focused on encouraging the application of TRIZ knowledge by school teachers
through a platform called TRIZATHON. The teachers applied their knowledge and were guided
by local TRIZ experts. Interestingly, during the teacher training session, the teachers achieved
several wonderful ideas such as innovative pens and enhanced face masks, which competed at
the national level TRIZ competition held at the end of 2020.
Strategy three involved extensive coordination of the Olympiad through the state schools.
School teachers, students, subject domain experts, and TRIZ experts with volunteers contrib-
uted their time and effort to organize and participate in the Olympiad.
Several supporting items such as TRIZ Inventive Trigger Cards, Competition Website based
on a TRIZ Knowledge Management System were developed by UNIMAS for the event. Quiz
and Discussion sessions were included to accelerate knowledge proliferation and creation. Fig-
ure 8 illustrates the interaction model of the TRIZ Olympiad key components.
The Covid-19 pandemic put the program at a sudden stop in 2020-2022. But beginning 2023,
the momentum has restarted and hopefully more schools from about 1,500 schools, 40,000+
teachers and 480,000+ students will be part of the platform.
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123
Figure 8: TRIZ Olympiad Component Interaction Model
3.6 Borneo TRIZ
With Ideal Campus encouraging TRIZ learning amongst the university lecturers, under- and
postgraduates, and administrators, the Research Clusters reaching out to indigenous communi-
ties, and TRIZ Olympiad supporting problem solving learning with the school teachers and
students, and TRIZ@Industry seeding the knowledge into industry, it looks like Sarawak is set
to harvest the fruits of its investment.
UNIMAS and TEGAS have spearheaded much of the initial efforts, there is no doubt that every
single stakeholder has put in their efforts and played their roles, but the various organizations
are responsible for working together and driving the culture into their respective systems. To
achieve real strength, the idea of Borneo TRIZ was floated by MyTRIZ. Taking the system
thinking approach, a combined effort in a single local cohesive unit will deliver more than the
sum of its part. Borneo TRIZ formalization was embraced by the Sarawak TRIZ communities
and launched on 19 October 2022. The historical moments are shown in Figure 9.
Borneo TRIZ Association aims to generate awareness of TRIZ, share common goals among
stakeholders, stimulate localized participation to upskill on advance problem solving and inno-
vation skills, represent unique issues of threatening tribal heritage and ensure no one is left
behind. Ultimately, it is to drive teamwork and achieve synergy to resolve the contradictions.
Figure 9: Promoting TRIZ in the Region
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
124
4. Conclusion
TRIZ arrived into Borneo Island through Sarawak at the end of the first decade of double zeros
(Year2000). Through the initiative led by UNIMAS, TEGAS, and MyTRIZ, TRIZ has prolif-
erated into all levels of societies in Sarawak.
Several breakthrough projects have been deployed, ranging from the concept of Ideal Campus,
training of university administrators, sharing and adapting modern innovation tools while doc-
umenting tribal knowledge of indigenous communities, encouraging problem solving skills for
school teachers and students via TRIZ Olympiad, and creating a career pathway for local inno-
vators.
The Borneo TRIZ initiative was initiated in 2022 and is expected to accelerate the preparation
for future skills that also allows indigenous communities to be able to connect and benchmark
with scientific inventions by linking to the inventive principles that came from patent analysis.
It is important to refine the strategy, implement the solutions, obtain the results and not forget-
ting to connect the communities and achieve synergy in the effort.
With the leaders, people, and culture being worked out, we are enthusiastic about the ChatGPT
era developments with TRIZ to fully empower all underserved people.
References
1. Sawaguchi, Manabu. (2016). How does Japanese “Kaizen activities” collaborate with “Jugaad
innovation”?. 1074-1085. 10.1109/PICMET.2016.7806683.
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loads/2019/01/Level-1-Manual-Word.pdf . Last accessed: March 22, 2020
3. Kaloshin, N.G., A brief overview of TRIZ (In Russian) https://www.trizland.ru/trizba/arti-
cles/3033/ Last accessed: March 22, 2020
4. Silverstein, D., DeCarlo, N., Slocum, M., Insourcing Innovation: How to Achieve Competitive
Excellence Using TRIZ, Auerbach Publications, 2007
5. Schoemaker, P.J.H., Heaton, S., and Teece, D. (2018). Innovation, Dynamic Capabilities, and
6. Leadership. California Management Review, Vol. 61(1) 15–42.
7. Altshuller G., “Creativity As An Exact Science”, Gordon & Breach Science Publishing House,
New York, 1984, ISBN 978-0677212302.
8. Belski,I.,(2005). The Role Of Practice In Mastering TRIZ, Proceedings of TRIZFest, St. Pe-
tersburg, Russia, June.
9. Belski,I., (2007). TRIZ Course Enhances Thinking and Problem Solving Skills of Engineering
Students, Proceedings of the TRIZ-future conference, Frankfurt, Germany, 6-8 Nov., pp 9-14.
Communicating Author: Tan Eng Hoo, enghootan@yahoo.com
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
125
The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
WHO NEEDS TRIZ CONSULTANTS: A CASE
STUDY
Oleg Abramov*, Natalia Tomashevskaya*, Alexander Medvedev*, Konstantin Rumiantsev*
*GEN TRIZ LLC, St. Petersburg, Russia
Abstract
This article presents a case study of a TRIZ consulting company that has been in business since 2016.
The authors, who are directly involved in this business, collected statistics on practical cases (project
proposals and completed projects) and identified companies and industries with the most interest in
TRIZ and the TRIZ services most in demand. These results can be useful both for TRIZ practitioners to
help them identify new clients and make more targeted offers, as well as for TRIZ developers who want
to improve or develop TRIZ tools and services for those industries not currently taking full advantage
of the TRIZ methodology. At the same time, this article may also be of interest to industry specialists
and managers, who can learn what technical and business problems TRIZ can help them to solve.
Keywords: TRIZ, TRIZ consulting, TRIZ project
1. Introduction
For decades, TRIZ has been used to facilitate innovations in various industries by identifying
and solving difficult inventive problems. Its superior effectiveness compared to other innova-
tion methodologies has been proven by numerous practical projects [1].
TRIZ can be easily integrated into a typical Stage-Gate process of new product development
[2] and combined with other popular innovation methods such as Six Sigma, Theory of Con-
straints (TOC), Design Thinking, etc.
The applications of modern TRIZ are numerous [3], and advanced TRIZ practitioners today
innovate in areas such as high-tech electronic industry [4], chemical industry [5], software de-
velopment [6,7], business model development [8], organizational and management problem
solving in organizations [9], etc.
Most published case studies refer to the use of TRIZ in large companies such as Intel, General
Electric, Samsung and LG, although some efforts are being made to extend TRIZ to small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [10-12].
Despite the enormous potential of TRIZ, its application in the real world is still very limited,
and most innovations are still created by trial and error or other methods that are less effective
than TRIZ. This leaves TRIZ practitioners with many opportunities to apply their skills to help
companies solve their problems.
However, to effectively offer problem-solving services using TRIZ, it is necessary to know (1)
which size companies - small, medium, or large - are most interested in using TRIZ, (2) in
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
126
which industries TRIZ is currently most in demand, and (3) what types of TRIZ projects are
needed most.
Unfortunately, this information is not widely available, despite the considerable number of pub-
lished case studies, because
1. Most of the case studies are published by a company’s own engineers and, therefore,
the engineers’ experience is limited to that company and its problems, and
2. Case studies usually only describe how TRIZ solved a particular company's problem,
but we do not know whether TRIZ was used at the company’s request or whether it was
the solver's initiative.
The authors of this article, as professional TRIZ consultants, have accumulated enough statis-
tics over many years of working with various companies in a wide variety of industries to de-
termine, at least in part, which companies and industries are most willing to use TRIZ these
days and which TRIZ services they need most.
2. Method and Data Analyzed
To obtain the necessary information, we conducted a statistical analysis of 162 requests for
proposals (RFPs) that Gen TRIZ LLC received from 94 companies in India, Israel, Colombia,
Russia, Kazakhstan, and the US from 2016 to 2023. As we were interested in the current de-
mand for TRIZ, we did not include older RFPs.
Each RFP included in the analyzed pool is relevant to the objective of this paper because:
• All companies specifically requested to use modern TRIZ for solving their problems,
• Each company provided a description of the problem as well as requirements and con-
straints for a potential solution, which were detailed enough to develop a proposal, and
• Each company reviewed and negotiated the proposal submitted by GEN TRIZ.
While not every proposal submitted led to a project, the large amount of time and effort spent
by the client in preparing the RFP, reviewing, and negotiating the proposal demonstrates the
company's genuine interest in using TRIZ to solve their problem.
The analysis performed includes:
1. Calculation of the distribution of RFPs by company size. The size of a company (small,
medium, or large) was determined as in the QEA-screening tool [13].
2. Calculation of RFP distribution by industry groups, which were determined in accord-
ance with the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) [14].
3. Calculation of RFP distribution by the type of TRIZ project requested, which was done
separately for small, medium, and large companies. The types of TRIZ projects consid-
ered in this study are those that GEN TRIZ offers:
- New Product Development
- Product or Process Improvement
- Cost Reduction
- Technology Scouting [15]
- Adjacent Market Identification [16]
- Patent Circumvention
- Verification / Prototyping
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
127
- Subversion Analysis (Failure Determination and/or Anticipatory Failure Deter-
mination) [17].
RFPs related to the continuation of a previously completed project (e.g., requests to verify con-
cepts created in a previous project) were not included in this study.
For confidentiality reasons, the specific products and technologies that companies wanted to
develop or improve, as well as the names of those companies, are not disclosed in this study.
3. Results
The calculated distribution of RFPs by the size of the company is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Distribution of RFPs by company size
As seen from Fig. 1, over a half of RFPs was received from medium-sized companies; over a
third of them – from large enterprises, and only a small fraction of RFPs was received from
small startup companies.
The calculated distribution of all RFPs by industry groups are given in Fig.2. The industry
groups in Fig.2 are determined as in GICS [14].
Fig. 2. Distribution of RFPs by industry groups
37%
57%
6%
Large companies
Medium-sized companies
Small companies
6%
15%
23%
4%
11%
6%
14%
5%
4%
1% 3% 3%
2% 1%
2% 1010 Energy
1510 Materials
2010 Capital Goods
2020 Commercial & Professional Services
2510 Automobiles & Components
2520 Consumer Durables & Apparel
3020 Food, Beverage & Tobacco
3030 Household & Personal Products
3510 Health Care Equipment & Services
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As shown in Fig. 2, industries where TRIZ help is needed most are:
• Capital goods
• Materials
• Food, Beverage, and Tobacco
• Automobiles and Components.
The distribution of RFPs by industry group differs for companies of different sizes, as shown
in Fig. 3. For example, the large companies that are most likely to seek TRIZ assistance are in
the Energy and the Automobile and Components industry groups (Fig. 3c), while the medium-
sized companies that would like to engage TRIZ are mostly in the Materials, the Capital Goods
and the Food, Beverage, and Tobacco industry groups (Fig. 3b).
20%
30%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
a) Small companies
1510 Materials
2010 Capital Goods
2020 Commercial & Professional Services
2520 Consumer Durables & Apparel
3510 Health Care Equipment & Services
4520 Technology Hardware & Equipment
4530 Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
129
Fig. 3. Distribution of RFPs by industry groups for companies of different size
The distribution of RFPs by type of TRIZ project requested is presented in Fig. 4.
As can be seen from Fig. 4, not all TRIZ services (project types) are equally in demand and the
most demanded services are Product or Process Improvement (about 35% of all RFPs received)
and New Product Development (about 25% of RFPs), while the least popular services are Sub-
version Analysis and Patent Circumvention, which are very rarely requested.
21%
29%
7%
2%
5%
21%
4% 4%
1% 3% 1% 2% b) Medium-sized companies
1510 Materials
2010 Capital Goods
2020 Commercial & Professional Services
2510 Automobiles & Components
2520 Consumer Durables & Apparel
3020 Food, Beverage & Tobacco
3030 Household & Personal Products
3510 Health Care Equipment & Services
3520 Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences
4520 Technology Hardware & Equipment
5020 Media & Entertaitment
5510 Utilities
17%
7%
14%
27%
7%
5%
7%
2%
8% 3% 3% c) Large companies
1010 Energy
1510 Materials
2010 Capital Goods
2510 Automobiles & Components
2520 Consumer Durables & Apparel
3020 Food, Beverage & Tobacco
3030 Household & Personal Products
3510 Health Care Equipment & Services
4010 Banks
4530 Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
5510 Utilities
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
130
Fig. 4. Distribution of RFPs by the type of TRIZ project requested
Fig. 4 also shows that companies of different sizes usually require different types of services,
for example, most RFPs on Adjacent Market Identification (AMI) and Verification / Prototyp-
ing projects were generated by medium-sized enterprises while large companies showed more
interest in Technology Scouting than AMI.
The results shown in Figs. 1-4 are summarized in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Summary of the results obtained in this study
The size of the company
most in need of TRIZ
Industry groups where
TRIZ is most needed
The most popular TRIZ services
Medium
• Capital goods
• Materials
• Food, beverage & to-
bacco
• Product or process improvement
• NPD
• AMI
• Cost reduction
• Technology scouting
• Verification and prototyping
Large
• Automobiles & com-
ponents
• Energy
• Capital goods
• Product or process improvement
• NPD
• Technology scouting
• Cost reduction
4. Discussion
It should be noted that the research presented in this paper is limited to the practice of just one
TRIZ consulting company, which (1) primarily targeted Indian, Israeli, Colombian, Russian
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
New Product Development
Product or Process Improvement
Technology Scouting
Cost Reduction
Adjacent Market Identification
Verification / Prototyping
Patent Circumvention
Subversion Analysis Small companies
Medium-sized companies
Large companies
Project types requested:
Percentage of RFPs received
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
131
and Kazakh companies, (2) did not actively offer its services to IT companies, and (3) did not
offer to solve managerial or business model problems.
Therefore, the results presented may reflect some geographical peculiarities or omit some in-
dustries where TRIZ can be used.
Nevertheless, despite these reservations, the statistics collected are representative enough to
help TRIZ practitioners more effectively identify the most promising industries and, within
those industries, identify companies that could be interested in TRIZ. Then TRIZ practitioners
can offer these companies the TRIZ services that they are likely to want, as shown in Table 1.
There are a few observations to be made about the results:
• The demand for TRIZ on the part of small companies is surprisingly low. In fact, these
companies tend to be start-ups developing a completely new product, which usually
requires solving numerous inventive problems – which is exactly what TRIZ was orig-
inally designed for. Therefore, it would be fair to expect that such companies would be
interested in TRIZ services.
• The overall demand for Subversion Analysis is low, while among small companies there
is almost no demand for this service. However, based on the Trends in Engineering Sys-
tems Evolution, Subversion Analysis is most effective for products and processes in the
first or transitional stage of evolution [17], which is usually where start-up companies
are.
• Demand for AMI services among large companies is unexpectedly low. Large compa-
nies usually have mature products that can benefit from being introduced into adjacent
markets, which means that AMI is just what they need.
• In addition, for some reason, large companies use TRIZ services less often than me-
dium-sized companies, although they usually have just as many technical problems to
solve but more financial opportunities to engage TRIZ consultants.
Small companies most likely do not use TRIZ because they do not have enough money to hire
TRIZ consultants and, therefore, try to solve all their inventive problems on their own.
As for large companies, unlike medium-sized ones, they often have their own large R&D and
marketing departments, so they also try to address their technical and market problems them-
selves.
5. Conclusions
Despite certain reservations, the results reported here can be used in several ways:
• TRIZ practitioners can use them to offer TRIZ services more effectively, targeting those
companies and industries that are most likely to use TRIZ, and offering the services that
are most in demand.
• Industry managers and engineers can find out if there are already TRIZ services in their
field that they or their competitors can use.
• TRIZ developers can improve TRIZ services and tools that are currently underutilized
to make them more effective and attractive to small and large companies and suitable
for use in industries where TRIZ is not currently widely used.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
132
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Deborah Abramov for her helpful comments and for editing
this paper.
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Based on Practical Results in New Product Development”. In: Benmoussa R., De Guio R.,
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6. Kluender D. “TRIZ for Software Architecture”. Procedia Engineering, vol. 9, 2011, pp. 708-
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13. Abramov O., Markosov S., Medvedev A. “Experimental Validation of Quantum-Economic
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Communicating Author: Oleg Abramov, oabramov@gen-triz.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
CONSIDERING INFORMATION AS A
LEGITIMATE COMPONENT
IN TRIZ BASED FUNCTION ANALYSIS
Oleg Feygenson*, Naum Feygenson**
* Principal Engineer, Samsung Electronics, Suwon, South Korea
** Freelancer, Ashkelon, Israel
Abstract
The term "information" is widely used in the scientific domains and everyday life. There is no field of
knowledge that has avoided a temptation to apply it. This is a consequence of the continuing expansion
of the semantic field of this term. However, in the modern TRIZ community one can observe a lack of
a common approach to deal with information.
Endless debates have been happening about application of a function analysis for creating and analyzing
models of systems where information is involved. In this paper, the authors demonstrate that “infor-
mation” can be treated as in the function analysis.
A combination of two approaches – “Data Knowledge Information Wisdom (DIKW) Pyramid” and
“Reality Tunnels” is proposed for analysing technical systems in which information plays an important
role.
Keywords: Information, Function Analysis, DIKW Pyramid, Reality Tunnel
1. Introduction
The term "information" is used extensively and has different interpretations. In our opinion, the
existing function approach known in TRIZ focus on function formulation processes when deal-
ing with substances and energy flows in relation to the evolution of engineering (technical)
systems. This is somewhat of a paradox, since the main activity in TRIZ Function Analysis,
Trimming, Function-Oriented Search is precisely in working with information.
It can be noticed that the main part of TRIZ activity historically and evolutionarily is related
exactly to receiving and processing information. First of all, G. Altshuller, at initial stages of
TRIZ development, worked with information extracted from the patent databases. G. Altshull-
er's earlier attempts to use philosophical approaches and observations of success stories of pro-
ductive inventors gave very limited insights. Working with information is not equivalent to
direct work to change technical systems. In other words, one does not have to drill holes, as-
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
135
semble and adjust specific parts of technical systems, etc. The results of this work with infor-
mation about technical systems was the emergence of new information and new framework
such as 40 Inventive Principles, 76 Standard Solutions, Patterns and Trends of Developing En-
gineering Systems. Second, when teaching TRIZ to different categories of learners, both train-
ing materials and illustrative cases studies are very important as well as the way of presenting.
Third, the process and results of TRIZ projects always have specifics of searching, selecting
and processing information. E.g., application of Function-Oriented Search may lead to different
results depending on the qualification and experience of a TRIZ practitioner.
Thus, the importance of considering specifics of handling information in TRIZ activity is be-
yond doubt.
The purpose of this paper is to establish the main features of practical work in collecting, stud-
ying, transferring and reconfiguring information for improving and developing engineering sys-
tems with TRIZ.
1.1 Introductory Examples
Let's take a look at an example that is widely used to explain how the concept of "function" is
defined [3].
Fig. 1. What is a function relation between kids and a school bus?
Since there is no interaction (direct physical contact) between the kids and the bus, it is assumed
that there is no function relation between them.
Let us consider this example in some detail.
The children have already performed an action - they moved to this bus stop. They have used
information about the bus schedule and route to do so. Moreover, this action is necessary to
perform the next actions - that is, to get on the bus and travel. The bus has also performed the
action (moving) as the driver knew the same information about schedule and route.
Thus, the absence of function connection in the canonical definition [2,3] is quite understanda-
ble and acceptable, but does not fully and only fragmentarily characterize this simple situation.
For a more complete understanding of the occurring (or not occurring) specific events, it is
necessary to introduce an information component. This information component is extremely
important for describing the system "transport system of children delivery" and understanding
the mechanisms of combining individual components into the system. In this example, the con-
sideration of informational interactions leads to the fact that the absence of "canonical" func-
tions at some interval of the lifecycle is not always a reason to exclude these intervals from the
function analysis of the system as a whole. Moreover, as we have shown with this simple case
study, accounting for information interactions in the absence of "classical" functions is a quite
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
136
meaningful and important indicator of system activity. Depending on the specific context, we
can identify this lack of active action as a deficiency or a resource.
1.2 Analytics marathons
Now, let us consider another example, which is more complicated. It is about analytics mara-
thons [4].
According to [4], preparation is important for analytics marathons too. The pre-race preparation
is a kind of data strategy work that must happen before collecting, visualizing, and analyzing
data. Unfortunately, this step is frequently overlooked or ignored.
Fig. 2. Illustration of the importance and effectiveness of information activities [4]
This metaphor (see Fig. 2) clearly shows that data/information processing issues are not always
conducted efficiently in terms of the resulting value and impact on the subsequent actions.
2. What We Mean by Information in This Research
There is no precise, generally accepted definition of "information”. This is typical for many
fundamental scientific concepts.
For example, Britannica Dictionary definition of information: knowledge that you get about
someone or something: facts or details about a subject [5].
A review of the various approaches to classifying information [1] shows an extremely large
variety of them. The most of such classifications ad hoc
In this research, we have considered only those aspects of information that seem to be important
in TRIZ in general and in Function Analysis specifically.
Nowadays, the popular direction of TRIZ development is applying Function Analysis in infor-
mation technology [6,9,10]. However, it remains outside the scope of this paper. In our opinion,
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
137
formulating the main useful function (as proposed in the publications mentioned above) “to
process data” or “to inform operator" is of limited use due to its excessively high generality. It
is suitable for high-level analysis. However, in practical cases it is not enough.
For example - process data is produced using very different algorithms. Correspondingly, the
information extracted from data is different and requires at least a comparison. The results of
executing function “to inform operator” can also be different - the information provided can be
simply missed, not completely understood or perceived differently. In this case, the operator's
subsequent actions may also vary quite significantly.
3. Data Information Knowledge Wisdom (DIKW) Pyramid for Practical Application
in Function Analysis
In order to meet research objectives, it is necessary to apply the approach known in TRIZ - that
is, the separation of levels of working with information. We used the so-called "Data Infor-
mation Knowledge Wisdom" (DIKW) Pyramid as a separator of levels for widening context/
contextualization (see Fig. 3).
First, this classification is quite widely used in many knowledge areas [11,12,13,14,16,17,18].
Second, this hierarchy is quite easily adaptable for a variety of applications [15].
According to [17]:
"The DIKW hierarchy is based on a set of four axioms:
(a) Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom represent distinct levels of knowing character-
ized by different complex content.
(b) The content of each level is obtained by processing the content of the lower level.
(c) Complexity increases in a bottom-up fashion.
(d) Transitions from one level to another one are nonlinear and non-programmable pro-
cesses”.
Fig. 3. Data Information Knowledge Wisdom (DIKW) Pyramid [adopted from 11,14,16]
An important addition to DIKW for our applications is to characterize and describe in function
language the sources and ways of obtaining data. However, applying a function description as
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
138
"to inform operator" is too general and not always a fruitful description. For example, the tem-
perature of the human body can be measured with a thermometer or a non-contact pyrometer.
Even more advanced system can be used [21]. Measures from the temporal artery, considered
an ideal place to detect temperature changes, as the blood that circulates there comes from the
core of the body. Sixteen infrared sensors take over 4,000 measurements, which is a revolution-
ary advancement of HotSpot Sensor Technology [21].
Thus, depending on the specific measurement technology/procedure, different accuracy is
achieved, different noise factors must be taken into account and the quality of the data is con-
sequently affected.
Table 1 represents specifications of different levels of DIKW pyramid in relation to Function
Analysis
Table 1. Characteristics of the DIKW Pyramid in relation to TRIZ based Function Analyses
Level
of DIKW Pyramid
Specifications
Notes
Wisdom
Ability to formulate judgments, identify an interpretation
and a set of values of the objectives
New emerged
Trends identifi-
cation, Ideal Fi-
nal Result
Knowledge
Answers to how-to questions
Laws of nature, instructions, know how
TESE,
Function model
Information
Answers to questions that begin with such words as
who, what, when, where, how many
Component
analysis, struc-
tural, parametric
analysis with
AFA [7,8]
Data
Symbols: Quantitative data (i.e., numbers, signals),
and/or Qualitative data (i.e., color, flavor).
Usually obtained from sensors and/or observations
Raw data from
all available
sources
DIKW fits naturally into the concept of poly-modeling typical for the modern TRIZ and all
postmodern science.
The completeness of data/information/knowledge analysis for each “level” is difficult to define
theoretically. Practically, however, the boundaries of frame are determined by two simple con-
siderations:
(1) continuing to deepen the analysis does not bring new meaningful results. For example,
quantum-mechanical representations do not bring usability in studying macro-processes.
(2) if more detailed understanding is needed, the levels and horizons of analysis can be recur-
sively reconsidered. Thus, it is recommended to proceed similarly to the analysis of technical
systems [2,3]
A complete picture of information understanding is formed by non-linear/non-additive summa-
tion of the contributions of different DIKW levels. The distribution by levels - how much is
needed for understanding - is determined specifically in each situation based on project goals.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
139
First of all, it is important to check the information completeness at different levels. It is also
possible to compliment the approach described with "tunnels of reality" (see the next chapter).
The best possible scenario is when the user on his/her own goes to a higher level. Perhaps - it
is necessary to interact from the upper and lower levels with appropriate content.
For example, some people have their own specific perception of metaphors, analogies, abstract
truths. Then the wisdom of quotations from Buddha, Confucius, and dialectics unexpectedly
significantly helps the completeness of understanding of the situation. From time to time, it is
a surprisingly sufficient factor of mutual understanding.
4. Strategy of instantiation “Reality Tunnel“
Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson coined the term of “Reality Tunnel“ [22,23]. It refers
to a theory that, with a subconscious set of mental filters formed from beliefs and experiences,
every individual interprets the same world differently, hence "Truth is in the eye of the behol-
der" [24].
If we clear the concept of "Reality Tunnel" from an esoteric interpretation, then it can be used
as a convenient format of representations of various Points of View. In this case, it is possible
to productively combine the approaches of the DIKW pyramid and “Reality Tunnels“ of each
individual/team. This is schematically shown on Fig. 4.
Then, the priority task of understanding the information is becoming a visual task - the “Reality
Tunnels“ recognize borders within DIKW levels. As soon as the borders are identified, the
tunnels can be brought together and guide to common sense.
Fig. 4. Combination of DIKW Pyramid and Reality Tunnels (#1; #2
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
140
5. Concluding remarks
Function Analysis is one of the most effective analytical tools of the modern TRIZ. However,
its application is still limited to the system that contain information as an important part.
Based on combination of the adapted approaches of DIKW Pyramid and "Reality Tunnels", a
holistic framework is proposed to explain the work with information in Function Analysis. The
framework is designed for Function Analysis of technical systems, but is not limited to such
applications.
It confirms a necessity of introduction of Function Analysis for measurement processes in order
to understand specifics of obtaining data. An existing generalized approach where measurement
functions are formulated as «to inform operator, to inform sensor, etc.» turns out to be insuffi-
cient.
For processing information, “Reality Tunnels” serve as a tool for navigating between different
levels of DIKW pyramid and for establishing common understanding of the system by members
of the project team. In fact, when working with information, the purpose of mutual understand-
ing always exists, even if not defined specifically.
The next steps include development of specific procedures and algorithms of modeling infor-
mation system with TRIZ based Function Analysis.
References
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top
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Communicating Author: Oleg Feygenson, oleg.feygenson@gmail.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
USING SUSTAINABILITY MODELLING WITH
TRIZ IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
TO EMBED SUSTAINABLE GOALS
Uwe Schaumann*, Oliver Mayer** /
*Oberderdingen, Germany
**Bayern Innovativ, Nürnberg, Germany
Abstract
Following sustainability guidelines in the product development is in general accepted but how to con-
sider it on the engineering side when the main target is not sustainability is difficult. To overcome this
at the start of a project a procedure is proposed which combine functional modeling from TRIZ with
sustainability targets. This approach was applied in several projects and the recommended use of the
functional analysis from TRIZ, the PESTLE model and 5 R’s adapted to make it more usable. Out of
the projects an example was derived to show the experiences and potential of the procedure.
Keywords: Sustainability, PESTLE, TRIZ, Use case
1. Motivation
Development projects to achieve new functions, more customer convenience, cost reductions
or manufacturing optimization often miss the perspective of sustainability. The variety of stake-
holders with different interests makes it difficult to define sustainability criteria in the normal
everyday development especially due to the increasing requirements around sustainability (1).
Concrete tools for the implementation of Circular Economy (CE) or Ecodesign goals are
known, what is missing is a support tool how to define sustainability from the start. To be able
to incorporate sustainability with a holistic view it is important to be able to derive a direction
for sustainability parallel to main given project goals even if there are single sustainable targets
given.
To solve these challenge O. Mayer published a procedure (1) which was applied in several
projects to gather experiences which create confidence in the approach and revealed minimal
changes to make it more operative.
Sustainable modelling with TRIZ defined by O. Mayer
O. Mayer described a procedure with the help of function and process analysis from TRIZ to
support the finding of tasks which are primarily aimed to eliminate harmful function or im-
prove functions with an non-normal degree of fulfilment based on sustainable targets (1).
This tasks are recommended to be solved by the 5 R’s and with the help of TRIZ tools (2).
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The procedure referred to is described in seven steps. Some adaptions for step 5 and 6
emerged with the practice (in bold) and will be discussed later (1):
1: Define a situation and the associated system components and super system components;
2: Create a functional analysis for the system and derive tasks for incremental improvement
according to main tasks;
3: Creating the processes necessary to create and dismantle the situation. A cradle to grave
analysis;
4: For the functional analysis (FA), the PESTLE elements are introduced as super system
components or fields;
5: For each element, a functional analysis is performed and the tasks for improvement are
defined. That is, to each PESTLE element exists a connection from each component
whereas the PESTLE content is transferred to a function description based on the FA
from step 4 for new , harmful or insufficient function or the content is
linked to the Trends of Engineering System Evolution (TESE);
6: Solving the tasks for harmful functions or for functions that do not have the degree of
fulfillment normal with the selected 5 R’s. Of course, the contradiction matrix can be used
for this or if it is about social aspects Design Thinking methods can be used to determine
how people react
6.1: Separate functions related to social issues:
Clarify if other tools can be used or a combination with TRIZ
6.2: Separate functions related to technical issues:
Select one of the 5 R’s rule or other Ecodesign rules and apply TRIZ tools for
supporting the solution process where applicable.
Depending on the defined target iterations are possible related to the selected 5 R’s;
7: Evaluate the solution ideas with a tool such as SWOT analysis or the Priority Matrix
The main learning from the usage of the procedure refers to step 5 which will be described
separately because it affects the operational work and the solving process in step 6.
Experiences and adaption of the procedure
Using the procedure on a specific project the expectation was to find development direction
more easily due to the focus. This is not true which was realized in different projects using
existing knowledge base on sustainability.
Figure 1 show a more generic view which is also applicable for components e.g., a valve actu-
ator. Even with such a narrower view the proposed way to use PESTLE as a field of the super-
system in the FA was challenging which led to a small adaption (Fig. 2).
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Fig. 1. PESTLE elements adding to the FA (no claim to completeness) (1)
Insights derived from papers, experts view… were summarized as shown in Fig. 2 so sustain-
able topics are conscious after the PESTLE Analysis (Fig 2 No. 1). Based on the target system
these insights were transferred to related existing functions or new were defined (Fig. 2 No. 2).
If no function could be found the link to TESE was used to get a future development direction
(Fig. 2 No. 3).
Current discussions in the context of sustainability emphasis the role of the user, so that other
tools are used in addition to the TRIZ tools mentioned (1,3,4). This is not explored further in
this paper, but the technical and social perspectives are therefore separated in the solution find-
ing phase in step 6. It is important to decide which of the 5 R’s is selected to reduce the initial
workload, which may also entail iterations, which is acceptable.
Fig. 2. PESTLE elements adapted to the FA of selected subsystem or component
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2. Example / Use case
To explore the proposed procedure a technical system was selected which is mature and for
which e.g., energy efficiency rules exist. Thus, a European domestic appliance was selected.
Most efforts are aimed at cost savings and user convenience beside sustainability, part from
sustainability issues required by legislation. A compact dishwasher was selected with the aim
to reduce the part numbers to safe costs and gain more space for the cleaning cavity. For the
paper, a simplification was done to explain the experience with the procedure but still based on
a wider content. In general, iteration from the complete system to subsystems or components
was a key to manage the insights gathered by this procedure. The recommended seven steps are
now explained in detail:
2.1 System Definition / Super System
A dishwasher for kitchens or caravans (Fig. 3 left) should be technically optimized at the third
component level (Fig. 3 right). The impact from business models was excluded.
.
Fig. 3. Compact dishwasher (high built-in, upright, integrated, drawer) and related component level (5)
2.2 Functional Analysis (FA) of the present system
Following Fig. 3 an upright type with a tank and/ or water supply was selected with the focus
on resource efficiency for water usage and the main function to move stain from the dishes for
the function analysis (Fig 4).
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Fig. 4. FA of the selected dishwasher
Based on the FA first tasks could be described (Tab. 1). Obvious tasks related to sustainability
can be addressed as well but were not followed at this stage.
Table 1. Examples from the task list based on the FA
How can the number of fluid actuators be reduced to save costs?
How can the access to the water tank be realized to clean it?
How can the dissolution of detergents be improved to get a better distribution?
How can the inlet valve be used as an aqua stop?
…
To improve the overview for the next step the system was broken down in subsystems e.g.,
water supply or detergent module. To solve the tasks TRIZ tools were used at this stage - see
4.6.
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Fig. 5. Definition of subsystems
2.3 Process Analysis
The overall process of the cradle-to-cradle process (Fig. 6) was reduced on the use phase (Fig.
7). For simplification, a part of the use phase was selected: How can the cleaning of the dish-
washer be improved at the end of the process? This phase is often forgotten because it can be
defined as an auxiliary process which is not linked to the main function but through FA and
process analysis the impact become transparent (Fig. 7 and 8).
Fig. 6. Life Cycle of a Machine Dishwasher according to Willskytt (6)
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Fig. 7. Selected process for the dishwasher
Cleaning of the dishwasher can be divided into three steps: prepare, apply, and move (dirt) suds. Figure
8 shows a simplified process where the insufficient functions are indicated by dotted lines.
Fig. 8. Process of cleaning the dishwasher
Based on the process analysis first tasks could be found. Obvious tasks related to sustainability
can be addressed as well but were not followed at this stage
Table 2. Examples from the task list based on the Process Analysis
How can the device cleaner be replaced?
How can the heating be reduced?
How can the fresh water usage be reduced?
…
2.4 PESTLE Analysis
Based on literature and market requirements, an overview for the dishwasher was created in
order to describe the targets for the water-related system parts in a further step.
Table 3. PESTLE for the dishwasher and water related subsystems – some examples (2,3,4,6-12)
.Compact dishwasher
Technology
/ Material
Economic
Environment
/ Ecology
Political
Social
Legal
Microgrids
Sharing
Economy
Water shortage
Change of
energy mix
Multi-use
(home- carvan)
Right-to-
Repair
Cyber-Physical
System
E-Commerce
CE (EN 4555X...) /
EU regulations
Sharing
Economy
Rebtdeffect
REACH / EU
regulation
Closed-loop-
control
„Everything as
a service“
Waste water
treatment
Reduction of
plastic waste
Shift of food
preparation
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Dishwasher hydraulic
Digital Sinner
Circle
Water expenses
Water shortage
Extend product
lifetime
Hygenic
awareness
Right to
Repair
New detergents
Supply chain
LCA impact on
consumables (2)
Reduction of
packaging (2)
Misunderstandin
of the process
REACH / EU
regulation
Adaptive
control
Waste disposal
cost reduction
CE (EN 4555X,...) /
EU regulation
No interest to do
maintenance
For the next steps, selected parts of the water supply and detergent dosing module (Fig. 4 and
5) were used for an additional FA model to get a better overview (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9. FA subsystem -water supply and detergent module
2.5 Use the insights from PESTLE as supersystem component
With selected topics based on design guidelines (6,7,8,9,10) from Table 3 a function analysis
was done according to the procedure where the PESTLE as supersystem elements is transferred
to a function description and tasks described (Fig. 10).
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Fig. 10. PESTLE elements that complement the FA
With Figure 10 e.g., the water tank, cartridge and user involvement were selected for improve-
ment which leads to Table 4. The upper part of Table 4 refers to the usage of TESE and the
bottom part to “new” function description.
Table 4. Development directions and tasks
Development directions
Tasks
Packing for detergents needs to be reduced (Trend or Tran-
sition to the Supersystem)
How can we avoid separate cartridges for the
cleaning? How can consumables be designed
out?
The water tank for energy or water efficiency purposes is
not used (Trend of Increasing System Completeness)
How can we change the control to satisfy the
test process for energy efficiency without
harming the system by contaminate water?
The water temperature can be reduced due to new detergent
systems. (Trend or Transition to the Supersystem)
How can we avoid the heating?
The user is not aware of the benefit and function of Eco-
programs (Trend of Decreasing human interaction)
How can we inform the user to use the ECO pro-
gram in such a way to maximize the sustainabil-
ity of the system?
Function
Tasks
The tank valve stops the freshwater (harmful)
How can the existing valve be used to stop the
water for emergency cases?
The pump/ tubing guides the liquid cleaner (insufficient)
How can a pre-mixing be achieved?
The liquid cleaner holds non-biodegradable substances
(harmful)
How can we eliminate the liquid cleaner?
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With the tasks from Table 4, there is a deeper view of sustainable issues that justifies not de-
scribing or already solving them in Step 4.2 and 4.3.
2.5 Solution finding / examples
The mentioned importance of social aspects besides technical solutions leads to separate path
which has only been superficially worked on. The social aspects can be addressed by informing
the user e.g., by the user interface. To improve this other tool are recommended (see step 6) (1).
The TRIZ Trends “Reduction of human interaction” shows a technical development direction
to offer more “self-functions” like the self-cleaning of the tank to reduce the user involvement.
Following the procedure, Eco-design rules and the 5 Rs were selected. For "Cleaning the dish-
washer", the theme Lifetime extension and Repair was chosen, which also covers the user's
desire for less interaction.
Two steps were used to solve the tasks based on the different FAs performed:
I: Using Trimming and Physical Contradictions to address the original project targets
II: Using Eco-design rules / 5R’s and combine the solutions from I in parallel with the recom-
mendation based on the TESE to address sustainability
Examples for step I:
A FA TRIM model was established (not shown) to reduce the component number e.g., to only
one pump which is combined with the external inlet water pressure or gravity from the tank.
To improve the water tank size a Physical Contradictions (PC) was used e.g.:
More water volume in the tank should be used to run the cleaning cycles more reliable
and less water volume in the tank should be used to reduce the space for the tank
Solving the PC with separation in space lead to the design of two associated tank on the top and
bottom. Following the separation in time with dynamization the cavity and tank are connected
to move the fluid during the rinsing to store water for the dishwasher cleaning.
Examples for step 2:
To solve the tasks from table 4 (e.g., bolded items) the solutions from the first iteration I are
combined with Eco-Design guidelines and Evolutionary Trends (7,9,10). For example, the task
to avoid the cartridges can be combined with the separated tanks by adding a detergent storage
area in the tank. In parallel with the dosing unit the separate device cleaner can be replaced by
a coordination of the volume and time dosage of a standard detergent.
In parallel the fluid control can be extended to use the water in the process several times by
storing a pre-filtered water beside the final dishwasher cleaning.
At the end, the target to gain more cleaning space (cavity) and a cost reduction was achieved.
The elimination of two pumps and a higher controllability of the fluid together with the sepa-
ration of the tank to use existing empty spaces is promising. Adding development directions
derived from the FA with the PESTLE as supersystems the first solutions related to the core
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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projects can be improved to address sustainable topic as well with minor changes.
2.6 Evaluation
To judge the solutions in respect of cost or market needs standard tools were used. For the
sustainability it is more complex, so the use of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) is recommended
but for the described use case the detailed insights from the PESTLE analysis allows a qualita-
tive judgment.
Working on a specific actuator for the selected subsystems confirms this simplification because
the input to select the “right” solution out of a morphological box or SWOT was possible. Nev-
ertheless, a LCA is in progress.
3. Conclusion
The application of the approach in everyday development for projects without sustainability
goals showed the applicability. Using the described adaptation as an "instruction manual" fa-
cilitates the usage of the TRIZ tools. The proposed procedure helps to get a point where “stand-
ard” guidelines can be used or different directions are extracted for further iterations
The deliberate restriction of not considering sustainability in steps 2 and 3 has no negative
impact as the main task is solvable. In steps 4 and 5, the understanding of sustainability in-
creases, which expands the existing solution and lead to a less incremental solution in step 6.
The general difficulty of determining the system boundaries can be solved by iteration, as dif-
ferent 5 R‘s can be used in step 6 without extending the original goal.
The search for functions as defined by TRIZ in step 6 is not always possible but facilitate the
usage of TRIZ. The derivation to select TESE also gives a guideline together with established
Ecodesign rules.
With the experiences the concept of resources defined by TRIZ seems to be promising in step
6 even it is not new (7). If the resources are used in the meaning of evolutionary resources
which take future development e.g. in this context for the detergents, water treatment into ac-
count the usage makes sense (13).
In the next step this will be evaluated for components because the described procedure creates
a basement which supports the exploitation of resources in the sense of TRIZ.
References
1. Mayer, Oliver. "TRIZfest-2022." TRIZfest-2022 (2022): 170.
2. Reike, Denise, Walter JV Vermeulen, and Sjors Witjes. "The circular economy: new or
refurbished as CE 3.0? exploring controversies in the conceptualization of the circular
economy through a focus on history and resource value retention options." Resources,
conservation, and recycling 135 (2018): 246-264.
3. Alt, Thomas, et al. "How many resources can be saved by changing consumers’ automatic
dishwashing behaviour?" Tenside Surfactants Detergents 60.3 (2023): 191-202.
4. Alt, Thomas, et al. "Exploring consumer behaviour in automatic dishwashing: a quantitative
investigation of appliance usage in six European countries." Tenside Surfactants
Detergents 60.2 (2023): 106-116.
5. https://www.hea.de/fachwissen/geschirrspueler/aufbau-und-funktion, downloaded 2023.06.01
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153
6. Willskytt, S. I. R. I. Resource efficient products in a circular economy—The case of
consumables. Diss. Chalmers University of Technology, 2020.
7. Russo, Davide, Daniele Regazzoni, and Tiziano Montecchi. "Eco-design with TRIZ laws of
evolution." Procedia engineering 9 (2011): 311-322.
8. Willskytt, Siri, and Sergio A. Brambila-Macias. "Design guidelines developed from
environmental assessments: A design tool for resource-efficient
products." Sustainability 12.12 (2020): 4953.
9. Spreafico, Christian. "An analysis of design strategies for circular economy through life cycle
assessment." Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 194.3 (2022): 180.
10. Abeliotis, Konstadinos, et al. "Trends in laundry by 2030." HPC Today 10 (2015): 22-28
11. Ina Hook, et all. “Anti-Circumvention of Standards for better market Surveillance, Test
reports – Part 5: Domestic dishwashers”, 2020 -https://www.anti-
circumvention.eu/storage/app/media/ANTICSS_Test-reports_Part5_DISH_draft-final.pdf,
downloaded 2023.06.01
12. Bertoldi, Paolo. "Proceeding of the 11th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in
Domestic Appliances and Lighting (EEDAL’21)." (2023).
13. Ikovenko, Sergei, M. Raymusiala, and S. Yatsunenko. "State-of-the-Art TRIZ, Theory of
Inventive Problem Solving." Novismo Ltd (2019).
Communicating Author: Uwe Schaumann, uwe.schaumann@egoproducts.com
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
TRIZ IDEAS IN A SYSTEMATIC PRESENTATION
P.N. Shimukovich
Abstract
Genrikh Altshuller started working on the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) almost 70 years
ago. The whole subsequent period is a continuous development of TRIZ, both by the founder himself
and by his associates, students, and followers. I developed my own version of TRIZ by combining mod-
ern achievements of systems theory and classical TRIZ. At first I called my author's approach the PN-
method (P.N. are my initials), then the Recommendations on Systemic Problem Solving. At present I
think that the most acceptable variant of the title is "TRIZ Ideas in a Systemic Presentation". The content
of my approach is stated in 8 written and published books and many articles. The following material
outlines the structure of the approach and then compares it with classical TRIZ to show the significant
differences. The amount of information provided is determined by the allowable size of the article. Par-
ticular questions of the approach, its detailing, and analysis of examples of application - all this is in my
books. I would also like to note that the demonstration of the differences between my approach and
classical TRIZ is done by comparison. That is, the classical TRIZ and my approach are compared, but
it is not a criticism of TRIZ! I was and am in awe of and deeply respect the results obtained within the
framework of classical TRIZ - without them there would be no basis, including for my research. At the
same time, I believe that there are no restrictions on presenting an approach that differs significantly
from the classical one at a TRIZ conference: I inform my colleagues about what I have done and assert
- it works! And it works effectively!
Keywords: New TRIZ Approach, PN-method, Innovation, Technical Creativity, Invention, Problem-
Solving, Inventiveness.
The approach I have developed is obtained by combining classical TRIZ and modern achieve-
ments of systems theory. In this connection, when starting to solve any problem, one should
rely on the basic concepts of systems theory and identify the system that generates this very
problem. Such a system can be represented as follows (Fig. 1).
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Fig.1. Graphical representation of the system.
In the presented system the elements, connections, boundary separating it from the environ-
ment, input, output and interaction with the environment are highlighted. It should be noted,
distinguishing the system from the structure of the problem is an independent creative work. It
is simple to define a system when, for example, you hold a pen in your hands: here is the body
of the pen, here is the cap, and here is the ink reservoir... What if it is a wireless computer
network? What if it is a failure of a complex technical device and the root cause is not obvious?
What if it is a clandestine terrorist organization? It is clear a priori that in the latter cases, even
taking into account all the elements of the system is a difficult task. It is even more difficult to
accurately determine the connections between them. Right now, for example, the media only
informs us that no terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for a terrorist act. But a
terrorist act is, from the point of view of the theory of systems, the output of such an organiza-
tion. And it takes a lot of work for the competent authorities to establish whether this act belongs
to the organization in question or to some other organization. I hope I have succeeded in out-
lining the complexity and, at the same time, the creative nature of such a task.
Then the selected system should be considered in 12 system aspects, that is, 12 times to change
the point of view of the essence of the problem (Fig. 2), the names of aspects are given in the
same figure.
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Fig.2. Systematic consideration of the object of analysis.
The ten systemic aspects are well known; I have borrowed them from systems theory. Two
aspects, virtual-modelling and reconstructing, are suggested by me; their names are the subject
of discussion and, possibly, clarification. The most general idea of the direction of aspects is
given by their names, full information can be found in my books [1], [2], [3], as well as in my
video [4] and other videos posted on the same channel.
The inclusion of virtual-modelling and reconstructing aspects in my approach is predetermined
by the high intensity of technology development associated with artificial intelligence and
global digitalization
Each of the selected aspects includes a certain set of system actions, the performance of which
allows obtaining the desired solution of the problem. For example, the element aspect contains
the following actions: change, take into consideration new properties of an element or its parts;
change property parameters (dimensions, shape, mass, symmetry, homogeneity, color, temper-
ature, etc.); change the position of an element, etc. A total of 86 system actions are contained
in all aspects; I have compiled a list of them on the basis of generalization of TRIZ tools and
provisions of the theory of systems.
A solution obtained by performing one or a set of system actions can be strengthened by for-
mulating and solving a TRIZ-contradiction. TRIZ-contradiction is known in the TRIZ commu-
nity as a physical contradiction. The main difference of my proposed term "TRIZ-contraction"
is that, using system concepts, it can be called supersystemic in relation to the term "physical
contradiction". Among other things, I believe that the use of my proposed term contributes to
popularization of TRIZ, because even an outsider, having mastered this tool, will subcon-
sciously understand that there is some TRIZ, even if not known to him, and he could solve an
important problem for himself with its help.
I emphasize that, based on system preconditions, I formulated TRIZ-contradiction in a modified
form in comparison with known in TRIZ formulations of physical contradiction: "TRIZ-con-
tradiction is a situation in which conditions of a problem impose contradictory requirements to
one of components of the following list:
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• the analyzed system as a whole;
• element of this system;
• the connection between the elements;
• resource consumed by the system;
• function performed by the system;
• the interaction of the analyzed system with its environment.
This definition is more complete than the known ones, and takes into account all the compo-
nents shown in Fig. 1 and characteristic of any system. Accordingly, this definition is systemic.
One of the main concepts in TRIZ is that of ideality, including the concept of an ideal system:
there is no system, but the function is fulfilled. It is clear a priori that an ideal system defined
in this way is some theoretical abstraction, just like "an absolutely black body", "an ideal gas"
in physics, "a point", "infinity" in mathematics, etc. This unattainable limit, nevertheless, has
an enormous heuristic power and determines the gradient of the researcher's aspirations when
dealing with a problem.
My approach allows to concretize the notion of ideality by means of twelve system aspects: the
transformations proposed within each aspect, if they are the best, in fact - locally ideal, in the
aggregate should also lead to the final ideal solution. Thus, the concept of ideality introduced
in TRIZ is decomposed in my approach into twelve smaller components, each of which can be
evaluated by its own criterion. Taking the above into account, a system can be called ideal for
specific conditions of application if it has:
• each object (element, connection) in its composition has an independent value, func-
tionality and is there and when it is really needed;
• structure is optimized according to some criterion and usually has a hierarchical or
network structure;
• the potential of each object is fully spent on the quality performance of its main func-
tion and additional/supporting functions;
• mass, dimensions and material, energy and information resources consumed by it dur-
ing the life cycle are of minimal importance;
• a new systemic quality that does not belong to any of its constituent objects manifests
itself;
• optimal interaction with the environment is ensured;
• the required variety of control actions is realized or mastered;
• the required informational diversity manifests itself;
• there is a prospect of development;
• models or fragments of virtual reality in a reasonable amount are included in the an-
alyzed system;
• the proportion between the humans participating in the system and the devices built
on the basis of artificial intelligence is optimized;
• the purpose of creating the system and its actual functioning correspond to each other.
Note that the presented criteria can be measured quantitatively and allow evaluating the creative
work both during its performance and after its completion. The final index of ideality can be
determined by a procedure equivalent to multi-criteria optimization with an assessment of the
contribution of each particular aspect to the final index of ideality.
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Next, I will focus on the significant differences between my approach and classical TRIZ, di-
rectly related to the process of creative work.
In the theory of systems it is accepted that the input of the system can be: the substance (mate-
rials), energy and information. People paid attention to the necessity of inclusion of the above
components in the composition of systems not at once, but according to the periods of devel-
opment of civilization, among which technosphere, energy sphere and infosphere are distin-
guished. Each of these periods corresponded to the predominant development of one of them.
It is considered that the first period comes from the depth of millennia and ends in the XX
century. This is the mastering of the material nature of the world, the creation of material pro-
duction and the formation of an understanding of the material nature of the world. The second
period begins in the 18th century with the steam engine and probably ends in the 20th century
with the development of thermonuclear energy. This is the development of the energy resources
of the solar system, the creation of energy abundance, the understanding of the unified nature
of energy and its relationship to matter. The third period is associated with the stage of master-
ing information. This is the period in which we are currently living.
Now let's see how these three periods relate to my approach and classical TRIZ. I will consider
this problem on the example of the process of improvement of percussion devices.
At the stage of technosphere, attention was paid to the material used for making percussion
devices. Since primitive times, people used wood and stone. As soon as they learned how to
smelt metal - percussion devices began to be made of this material. Similarly, new percussion
devices were created as they mastered the manufacturing of rubber, various plastics, etc. The
approach realized here is obvious: a new material appears and specialists in the field of percus-
sion devices creation immediately "try on" its suitability for manufacturing of percussion parts,
variants with obvious benefit from application of the new material get a ticket to life.
An alternative branch of improvement of percussion devices at the stage of technosphere can
be considered a change of contact conditions of impacting surfaces. Fig. 3 - 7 show some vari-
ants of contact of impacting surfaces.
Fig. 3. Contact of flat surfaces of impact devices.
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Fig. 4. Contact of spherical impactor surfaces.
Fig. 5. Contact of sphere and plane.
Fig. 6. Contact of sphere and concave surface.
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Fig. 7. Multipoint contact of impact surface with a plane.
The purpose of such transformations of impacting surfaces can be very different, but in our case
it can be characterized by regulating the magnitude of contact stresses in the impact zone. Since
the devices of the presented schematic executions really exist, it means that they are in demand
in different fields of application.
One more and relatively young variant of improvement of impact devices may be called a cavity
(Fig. 8) inside the striking part 1 and put in it an additional mass 2, which has the possibility of
longitudinal movement in relation to the part 1. The initial setting of the value of the end gap Δ
provides a solution to a dual problem:
- At one calculated value of the end gap Δ the mass 2 collides with the surface of part 1 when
this part 1 after the collision already performs the reverse motion from the colliding surface.
Such an impact results in a significant reduction of the impactor's recoil. This is especially
important, for example, in space, when working with a hammer in conditions of weightlessness;
- At other calculated value of the end gap Δ, the mass 2 strikes the inner surface of the part 1
up to the moment of its rebound from the striking surface. Due to this, the time of impact im-
pulse action on the striking surface increases and the effect of the impact increases.
Fig. 8. Impact device with an additional striker.
Let me pose a question: what happens if the colliding surfaces of parts 1 and 2 (Fig. 8) are
subjected to transformations similar to those depicted in Figs. 3 - 7? Of course, if this question
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is answered correctly, conditions will be created to form a new list of impactors with specific
performance properties.
The given examples do not exhaust the variety of possible changes of percussion devices, but
they demonstrate the abundance of variants.
I will now put the energy sphere at the top of the list. The first source of energy to actuate an
impact device was the human muscular force. Then the force of the earth's gravity was used.
Then, again as it was discovered, electricity, compressed air energy, and the energy of pressur-
ized fluid were taken into account. Today we are not surprised by electric breakers, pneumatic
breakers, hydraulic breakers, but at one time they were revolutionary innovations.
Now we live in the information age. What is the impact of information on the improvement of
percussion devices? Unfortunately, almost nothing. Only in some samples we can find indica-
tion of impact force, impact velocity... This means that this field is still waiting for its research-
ers.
It is possible to put a question: are such variants of combination of impact devices with infor-
mation necessary? The answer is unambiguous - we need them! I will confirm it with examples.
In smartphones we are used to a variety of indications: visualization of smartphone charging
process, battery level, network signal; confirmation of message delivery to the addressee; con-
firmation that the signal reached the addressee, but he does not pick up, etc.
I can be reproached that a smartphone is a device designed to handle information, and for that
reason it has so many information components. But it isn't.
As another example, I'll take an ordinary umbrella. And in this device, which is not an infor-
mation device, we find: pressure sensors built into the umbrella and warning light signals to the
owner of the umbrella about the approach of rain (drop in atmospheric pressure); sensors that
assess the degree of contamination of raindrops; reflective elements informing in the dark time
of day the drivers of approaching cars about the presence of the umbrella owner on their route;
on the peripheral ends of the frame guides are mounted speakers, which allows you to get in
the underdome space quality stereo sound, the dome of the umbrella equipped with one or more
indicators of UV radiation to determine whether the permissible level of UV radiation, etc.
The above examples of percussion device, smartphone, and umbrella are placed here with one
purpose - to show that the established approaches in classical TRIZ need to be changed.
Classical TRIZ recommends: having obtained a problem, for example, in the contact of bodies
in a point, one should apply other variants - contact along a line, along a surface, along a vol-
ume. The examples I have presented show that this problem applies only to one sphere of trans-
formations - to the technosphere. Within the energy sphere, TRIZ suggests using the abbrevia-
tion MATCEM, i.e. to consider successively the variants of using mechanical, acoustic, ther-
mal, chemical, electric and magnetic energy while searching for a solution. As for the in-
fosphere, i.e. working with information, there are no TRIZ recommendations at all: at the turn
of the 1960s, information was not as important as it is now, so there are no recommendations.
My approach, on the other hand, has an informational aspect that is directly aimed at working
with information. The virtual-model and reconstructive aspects are also informational. I believe
that if we take the position of active supporters of classical TRIZ, the abbreviation MATCEM
should be changed, for example, to MITCEM or MATCEMI, thus adding an informational
component to the energy sphere. In the latter case, the letter "A" will retain the acoustic impact,
meaning it is the energy component, not the information component. However, I think it is more
correct to transform MATCEM into TEI, where technosphere, energy sphere, and infosphere
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are united respectively, each with its own set of subordinate influences. In particular, infor-
mation in any analyzed task can participate in the most different kinds, having the possibility
to influence all human senses, or be fixed by special devices.
Limited by the size of the article, other differences between my approach and classical TRIZ
cannot be described in as much detail as in the case of MATCEM, so I will simply list them:
- TRIZ has a large number of tools for creative problem solving: 40 methods of
solving technical contradictions, 11 principles of solving physical contradictions
and 76 standards for inventive problem solving. All of them are in a row, which
predetermines a lot of work to choose the right tool. In my approach, system
actions - analogues of classical TRIZ tools - are hierarchically ordered in the
form of tree branches. By choosing one of the branches as a solution variant, all
other branches are excluded from consideration, which reduces the amount of
work by times;
- In TRIZ it is suggested to solve physical contradictions with the help of 11 prin-
ciples. I have reduced the number of variants to two - the contradiction is solved
in time or in space, while the quality of obtained solutions and the number of
possible variants of solutions are not reduced. This fact is confirmed by long
practice of application of the approach;
- Based on systems theory, I formulated a proposal to change the graphical repre-
sentation of the vepole from triangular to the generally accepted in graph theory
and in systems theory - two elements are connected by one line. The change I
propose increases visibility of the scheme and corresponds to the implementa-
tion of the convolution line known in TRIZ for the improvement of TRIZ itself.
In addition, depicting the vepole in the form corresponding to the accepted in
the theory of systems, allows applying mathematical methods to optimize the
structure of the analyzed system;
- My approach uses system terminology, which simplifies its adaptation to various
tasks - technical, organizational, managerial, and domestic. In classical TRIZ, as
it is known, the terms typical for technical problems prevail, which forms certain
difficulties in solving, for example, organizational and managerial problems;
- The developed approach is well adapted not only to creative problem solving,
but also to performing a number of operations of related processes - analysis of
initial situation, formulation of goal, forecasting of future results, writing of in-
vention formulas, work on practical implementation of obtained creative result
into materialized sample.
-
In addition to the presented material I can note that in my books there are also reflected ques-
tions of stimulation of an ordinary person to creativity, realization of search - "what to invent?",
determination of reasonable correlation of logical and intuitive in the process of creative prob-
lem solving, choice of the preferable variant of the solution from the set of possible and a num-
ber of others. Taken together, all the issues discussed in my books allow organizing practical
innovation work in any interested company, as well as to form a corresponding educational
course in educational institutions. The practice I have developed allows me to assert that in both
cases the results will be high, corresponding to the modern level.
The next step in the development of my approach will be the development of its computer
version, based on the latest achievements in digital technology and artificial intelligence. Cer-
tain actions in this direction have already been taken.
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References
1. Shimukovich, P.N.: TRIZ-controversies in innovative solutions: a PN-method. Ed. 4. Mos-
cow: LENAND (2018).
2. Shimukovich, P.N. Problems have solutions! TRIZ-ideas in a systematic presentation. Ed. 2,
revised. Moscow: LENAND (2017). (English translation available: Shimukovich P.N. Solu-
tions Do Exist for Every Problem! A systematic presentation of TRIZ-ideas. Moscow: URSS
(2019)).
3. Shimukovich, P.N.: TRIZ-ideas in a systematic presentation: key issues of creative applica-
tion. Moscow: LENAND (2023).
4. Shimukovich, P.N. Presentation of the author's books. https://youtu.be/Y8nU5xRrr64, last ac-
cessed 2023/04/02.
5. Shimukovich, P.N.: Information Method of Creativity. Information, language, semiotics,
TRIZ at the service of innovations. Izd.2, stereot. Moscow: LENAND (2017).
6. Shimukovich, P.N.: Incitement to Creativity. The origins of successful innovation. Moscow:
LENAND (2018).
7. Shimukovich, P.N.: TRIZ-ideas in a system statement: patenting and embodiment of a crea-
tive result. Moscow: LENAND (2023).
8. Shimukovich, P.N.: TRIZ-ideas in a systematic presentation: Practice. Moscow: LENAND
(2019).
9. Shimukovich, P.N.: TRIZ-ideas in a systematic presentation: The path to a creative result: a
holistic presentation and step-by-step analysis. Moscow: LENAND (2021).
Communicating Author: Petr Shimukovich, pnsh50@mail.ru
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
APPLYING THE THEORY OF INVENTIVE
PROBLEM SOLVING (TRIZ) TO POLICY
MAKING: IDENTIFYING COMPLEX POLICY
PROBLEMS AND GENERATING INNOVATIVE
SOLUTIONS
Prasanna Bhagwan* & Ashutosh Prachand**,
*Prasanna Bhagwan, MSc, LL.B, PGDIPR, TRIZ-Practitioner, DFP,Patent Agent,
Technology lawyer
** BSc, PGDBM, Patent Agent, TRIZ-Practitioner.
Abstract
This study paper's goal is to examine how the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and its
guiding principles might be used to the formulation of public policy. The purpose of the study is to
investigate how TRIZ can be used to innovate policymaking and address complicated policy issues. The
purpose of this study article is to evaluate the effectiveness of TRIZ in policymaking and to pinpoint the
potential advantages that may result from its application. The study specifically aims to investigate how
TRIZ may be used to discover and resolve policy issues in a systematic and efficient manner, as well as
how it can be utilised to provide creative policy solutions that satisfy the interests of stakeholders. A
review of the body of research on TRIZ and its use in policy making is part of the qualitative research
methodology employed in this work. A theoretical framework for comprehending the TRIZ principles
and its possible applications in policy making is provided by the literature review. The conversations
with policymakers provide useful insights into the application of TRIZ in actual policy contexts.
The results of this study demonstrate that TRIZ can be a useful tool for policymakers in recognising and
resolving difficult policy issues. Policymakers can develop creative and efficient policy solutions that
satisfy the needs of stakeholders by applying TRIZ principles like contradiction analysis and ideality,
TESE. The study also indicates how TRIZ can be used to stimulate innovation in the policy-making
process by enticing decision-makers to approach problems with creativity and method.
The importance of this study rests in its contribution to the understanding of how TRIZ might be used
in the formulation of policy. This study offers insightful information for policymakers, researchers, and
practitioners by highlighting the possible advantages of TRIZ in policymaking. To fully grasp TRIZ's
potential and constraints in various policy situations, it also emphasises the need for additional study
and experimentation. In the end, the study adds to the overarching objective of encouraging creativity
and efficiency in policymaking and enhancing citizens' lives through better policies. The paper primarily
uses examples from Indian Law.
Keywords: policy making, TRIZ in LAW, Legal Innovation.
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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How TRIZ can be used in policy making to solve complex, contradictory and novel
problems quickly.
1. Introduction
The problem that the research paper is trying to solve is that policymaking needs new ap-
proaches and methods. Traditional methods may not be able to solve complex policy problems
and come up with new ideas. The goal of this paper is to look at how the Theory of Inventive
Problem Solving (TRIZ) and its guiding principles can be used in policymaking. The goal is to
improve how policies are made and carried out. The goal of the paper is to find out how well
TRIZ helps find and solve policy problems, to list the possible benefits of using it, and to en-
courage creativity and efficiency in policymaking. By using TRIZ and its ideas, the paper hopes
to help come up with policies that are more creative, thorough, and ready for the future. The
paper primarily uses examples from Indian Law.
2. Research methodology.
This research paper represents an effort in qualitative research of Theory of Inventive Problem
Solving (TRIZ) to the domain of policymaking and law. The study embarked on a solo research
journey, where the author’s undertook extensive literature review, self-guided exploration, and
innovative thinking to formulate the 39 parameters, 40 Inventive Principles, and Trends of En-
gineering System Evolution (TESE) specifically tailored for policymaking. The author's in-
depth understanding of TRIZ principles, combined with their expertise in law and policy, ena-
bled the development of a unique methodology that had not been previously explored or docu-
mented. The author’s independently carried out a systematic analysis of case studies, policy
frameworks, and legal contexts to identify potential applications and challenges of TRIZ in
policymaking. This comprehensive research process involved critical thinking, creative prob-
lem-solving, and a deep dive into the intricacies of policy formulation and implementation. The
insights gained through this solitary research endeavor laid the foundation for a groundbreaking
methodology that has the potential to revolutionize the field of policymaking. The author's in-
dependent exploration and novel contributions to TRIZ in the context of law and policy demon-
strate their innovative and self-directed research approach, setting a precedent for future studies
in this emerging field.
3. Significance of this Research
The significance of this research lies in its contribution to the field of policy making. To the
best of the author's knowledge, this study represents a unique endeavor as it maps the major
principles of TRIZ in the context of policy making. By exploring the applicability of TRIZ in
the policy domain, this research fills a gap in the existing literature and offers a novel perspec-
tive on problem-solving and innovation in policy formulation. While it is important to
acknowledge the limitations of individual knowledge and the possibility of other related studies,
this research represents an original contribution to the field and opens avenues for further ex-
ploration and application of TRIZ in policy making.
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166
4. Policy Making Process.
4.1 Agenda Building
A problem must be recognised and brought to the government's attention before a policy can
be developed. For instance, corruption has been a problem in India for a long time, but it wasn't
until the high-profile corruption scandals and the ensuing protests in the 2010s that the issue
was brought to light and stronger official action was demanded. Another example is air pollu-
tion. Indian society tolerates a certain level of pollution; however, when the air quality index in
cities like Delhi spikes drastically during the winter months or is perceived to be consistently
poor, it becomes a matter for policymakers to address.
Specific incidents can underscore a problem and place it on the agenda. The flooding of cities
like Chennai, Bengaluru or Mumbai prompts questions about urban planning, drainage systems,
and whether construction should be permitted in certain flood-prone zones. New policies on
counter-terrorism (the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act amendments, for example) were re-
sponses to the terror attacks like the one in Mumbai in 2008.
Agenda building is a critical first step in the policy-making process. It is the stage at which
problems are recognized, defined, and prioritized for political and bureaucratic attention. A
problem becomes an issue on the policy agenda when it is publicly acknowledged and political
leaders decide it warrants action at the policy level.
Recognizing and Defining Problems: In a world with infinite needs and finite resources, not all
problems can be addressed at once. Agenda building is necessary to determine which problems
are significant enough to warrant attention and action. This often requires a process of problem
definition where the nature, causes, and impacts of the problem are explored. This aids in cre-
ating a shared understanding of the problem among stakeholders and policymakers. For in-
stance, the pollution in Indian cities was identified and defined as not just an environmental
problem, but also a public health crisis, thus warranting urgent policy attention.
Prioritizing Problems: Once problems have been recognized and defined, they need to be pri-
oritized. Agenda building is necessary for this process of prioritization. It entails taking into
account variables like the severity of the issue, the population impacted, the accessibility of
resources for solving the issue, and the level of political and popular support for action. The
severity of the air pollution challenge, its effects on public health, and growing public concern
have all contributed to this issue moving up the legislative agenda in India.
Mobilizing Support: Agenda building is also necessary for mobilizing political and public sup-
port for action. By highlighting the urgency and importance of a problem, agenda building can
create the political will for action and the public demand for policy change. An illustration of
this is the anti-corruption campaign in India, which contributed to the development of the re-
form agenda.
Guiding Policy Development: Once a problem is on the policy agenda, it guides the subsequent
policy development process. The problem definition and the priorities set during the agenda
building stage shape the objectives of the policy, the strategies for achieving them, and the
measures for evaluating policy success.
Thus, agenda building is crucial in policy making as it sets the direction for policy action. With-
out a well-defined and prioritized agenda, policy making can be haphazard, reactive, and less
effective in addressing societal needs.
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TRIZ talks about "The Ideal Final Result, representing the best possible solution, serves as the
goal or target state of the project." Hence without deciding the agenda of the what the policy
wishes to achieve, it is not possible to the goal of the policy.
4.2 Policy formulation and adoption
Text Policy formulation involves devising an approach to address a problem. This process can
involve various stakeholders such as the Parliament, the executive branch, the judiciary, and
interest groups. Often, differing proposals are put forth. For instance, the Prime Minister may
have one strategy to address farmer distress and agrarian crisis, and the opposition party mem-
bers of Parliament may have a different viewpoint. Policy formulation results in a concrete
outcome: A bill is introduced in the Parliament or a regulatory body drafts proposed guidelines.
The process then progresses to adoption. A policy is adopted in India when Parliament passes
legislation, the guidelines become final, or the Supreme Court delivers a verdict on a case.
Policy formulation and adoption in India can face several challenges. Here are two examples:
1. Problem: Divergent Interests and Stakeholder Conflicts
Managing the differing interests and potential conflicts between many stakeholders is one of
the biggest issues involved in the creation and acceptance of policy. For instance, the govern-
ment had to strike a compromise between the needs of companies, which required land for
development projects, and farmers, who were worried about losing their way of life, when cre-
ating the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act in 2013.
TRIZ Solution: TRIZ offers tools like contradiction analysis to help identify and resolve these
contradictions. The principle of "Prior Action" (Principle 10), for instance, can be used to en-
sure proper rehabilitation and job opportunities for the farmers before land is acquired. Principle
4, "Asymmetry", could suggest changing the proportion of industrial to agricultural land in
different areas to maintain a balance.
2. Problem: Complexity and Uncertainty of Policy Outcomes
The complexity and unpredictability of policy results present another difficulty in developing
and implementing policies. For instance, India introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
to streamline the tax code and expand the economy. Due to the complexity of India's economy
and the diversity of its states, it was difficult to forecast how the GST would affect the country.
TRIZ Solution: The concept of 'Ideal Final Result' (IFR) in TRIZ can provide a guiding vision
to navigate this complexity. The IFR for GST, for instance, could be a simplified, unified tax
structure that promotes economic growth without imposing undue burdens on any state or sec-
tor. TRIZ principles like "Nested Doll" (Principle 7), suggesting tiered implementation for dif-
ferent sectors or states, and "Dynamics" (Principle 15), suggesting flexible and adaptable tax
rates, could then be used to guide the formulation and implementation of GST towards this IFR.
Through such approaches, TRIZ can offer innovative strategies for addressing the challenges
in policy formulation and adoption.
4.3 Implementation
The implementation or execution of policy is typically performed by institutions different from
those that devised and sanctioned it. A law usually only provides a general structure of a policy.
For example, the Indian Parliament may pass an act for better air quality standards, but it's the
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that provides the details on these standards and
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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the processes for assessing adherence through regulations. As previously noted, the Supreme
Court has no mechanism to enforce its rulings; other branches of government must implement
its determinations. Successful implementation depends on the complexity of the policy, coor-
dination between those putting the policy into practice, and compliance.
An appropriate illustration is the Right to Education Act ruling by the Supreme Court. The court
acknowledged the complexity of the issue surrounding the implementation of free and required
education for kids between the ages of 6 and 14. However, they did not offer clear instructions
on how to put it into practise. Here, the implementation was mainly reliant on the vigilant over-
sight of district and state education officials, as well as local and state school boards, who fre-
quently baulked at spearheading such a big shift.
In whole of world, especially in the developing countries, when policies are made and implemented
without the desired impact, the blame is often placed at the implementation end.
Implementation of policies in India can encounter several roadblocks. Here are two examples:
1. Problem: Coordination Among Multiple Agencies
For implementing policies, coordination among multiple government agencies is a common
challenge. For instance, in the case of the Smart Cities Mission, multiple government depart-
ments like urban development, transport, energy, environment, etc., have to work together. This
often leads to delays and sub-optimal implementation.
TRIZ Solution: TRIZ can help address this through its "System Approach" which emphasizes
viewing a problem as part of a larger system and optimizing the whole system instead of indi-
vidual components. The "Nested doll" principle (Principle 7) could be applied here to ensure
different departments operate as nested subsystems within the overall Smart Cities Mission.
Each department could have its roles and responsibilities clearly defined, yet all should function
in harmony with the overall mission.
2. Problem: Resistance to Change
Another challenge is resistance to change from stakeholders, which often hampers the imple-
mentation process. For instance, the implementation of the Right to Education Act was hindered
due to resistance from private schools and certain sections of society.
TRIZ Solution: TRIZ could help in managing this resistance through its principle of "Prelimi-
nary Action" (Principle 10). This principle suggests undertaking necessary preparatory actions
before implementing the change. In this context, it could mean initiating awareness campaigns
and dialogues with stakeholders, and addressing their concerns before the full-scale implemen-
tation of the policy.
Evaluation involves assessing the effectiveness of a policy, and it is not a straightforward task.
Cost-benefit analysis is frequently used by both inside and outside of government to try to an-
swer this question. To put it another way, if the government invests a certain number of crores
on a policy, are the gains made from it worth the investment? Data used in cost-benefit analyses
are frequently hard to come by and are vulnerable to several, sometimes conflicting, interpre-
tations.
History indicates that once implemented, policies are hard to terminate. They are usually ter-
minated because the policy has become outdated, has clearly failed, or has lost its backing
among the interest groups and elected officials that pushed it onto the agenda initially. For
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
169
instance, the Indian government launched a programme of river interlinking in the middle of
the 1990s to address the issue of flooding and water scarcity in various regions of the nation.
This programme was successful in some ways, but it also had negative effects on the environ-
ment, society, and the economy, as well as caused tensions between the states. This policy has
been reviewed throughout time in light of complaints from environmental organisations, wor-
ries from impacted towns, and interstate disputes. In certain cases, plans for river interlinking
have even been shelved or abandoned.
The more recent instance is when India implemented its Demonetisation programme in 2016 to
combat dark money, lessen corruption, and foster the digital economy. Some of its goals were
accomplished, such expanding digital transactions, but it also caused short-term economic in-
stability and hardship for the populace. The policy has generated a great deal of discussion, and
its full effects are still being assessed.
Similarly, the controversial Farm Bills of 2020 in India designed to liberalize the agriculture
sector faced massive resistance from farmers leading to protests. The bills intended to provide
more freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside the government-controlled agricultural
produce market committees (APMCs) and encourage intra-state trade. However, the farmers
worried about the lack of minimum support price (MSP) guarantee and the rising influence of
corporate houses. This resistance led the government to reconsider and finally, in 2021, repeal
these laws. This serves as an example of how strong public opposition can force the re-evalua-
tion and even termination of a policy.
5. 39 parameters and 40 Inventive Principles and TESE in policy making.
In TRIZ, 39 parameters are utilized to frame contradictions. The challenge with using these
parameters in a policymaking context lies in the fact that these parameters were initially engi-
neered for mechanical and technical systems. However, they can still be creatively interpreted
and applied to policy contexts. Here are examples of some of these parameters.
Note that not all parameters can be as easily or sensibly translated into a policy-making context.
For instance, parameters like "Thermal conductivity," "Strength," or "Wavelength of a used EM
field," are rather technical and may not fit well with policy-making themes. However, they
could be metaphorically used to describe the intensity, the power, or the spread of a certain
policy effect. In conclusion, the list of 39 parameters can provide a useful starting point, but
their use in policy-making would require a careful and creative interpretation.
1. Weight of moving object: Consider the movement of goods and services across states. The
implementation of GST in India has lightened the "weight" of moving goods across state bound-
aries by reducing tax-related complications.
2. Speed: The speed of policy implementation can be critical. For instance, the speed at which
the Jan Dhan Yojana was implemented resulted in the rapid creation of bank accounts for mil-
lions of Indians.
3. Length of moving object: This could refer to the extent or reach of a policy, such as the
geographical coverage of the National Rural Health Mission across rural India.
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4. Shape: The form a policy takes can significantly impact its outcomes. For instance, the shape
of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which involves public-private partnerships, has shaped
affordable housing availability.
5. Reliability: Referring to the consistency and trustworthiness of a policy. The Reserve Bank's
monetary policy, for instance, aims to maintain reliability to stabilize the financial market.
6. Temperature: This might indicate the 'hotness' or urgency of a policy issue, like the immedi-
ate and high-priority response to setting up oxygen cylinders COVID-19
7. Stress: The pressure on resources due to policy can be considered. For example, the stress
on public healthcare facilities during the pandemic.
8. Power: The power or authority of a policy-making body can be important. For example, the
power vested in the National Green Tribunal to enforce environmental laws.
9.Area of moving object: This could refer to the scope of policy application. For instance, the
scope of the Right to Education Act which covers all of India.
10. Force: This could be interpreted as the influence or power behind a policy. The force behind
the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan helped drive a nationwide cleanliness campaign.
11. Tension, pressure: Refers to the pressure exerted by a policy. For instance, the pressure
created by environmental regulations on industries to reduce pollution.
12. Stability of the object's composition: This could refer to the stability of a policy over time.
The stability of India's foreign policy, despite changing administrations, is an example.
13. Strength: Can be interpreted as the robustness of a policy or its resistance to change. The
strength of India's nuclear non-proliferation policy, despite international pressures, could be an
example.
14. Durability, life time: Refers to the longevity of a policy. The continued existence of the
Public Distribution System in India, since the time of independence, is an example.
15. Temperature stability: This could be metaphorically interpreted as a policy's resilience to
'heated' political or social environments. For instance, the implementation of Goods and Ser-
vices Tax (GST) remained stable despite political opposition.
16. Brightness: Can be viewed as the visibility of a policy to the public. Policies with high
public awareness, like the Aadhaar program, exemplify this.
17. Waste of energy: Policies that require significant resources but yield low results could be
examples. Critiques of the Smart Cities Mission often point to wastage of resources with mini-
mal on-ground impact.
18. Waste of substance: Could refer to inefficient policies that lead to resource wastage. For
example, the inefficiencies in water management policies leading to wastage of water.
19. Loss of substance: Could refer to policies that inadvertently lead to depletion of resources,
like certain mining policies leading to loss of biodiversity.
20. Loss of information: The Right to Information Act aims to counter this parameter by pro-
moting transparency and accountability.
21. Energy spent by a stationary object: Could be metaphorically used to represent the efforts
required to maintain a policy, like maintaining the universal PDS requires significant resources.
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22. Power spent by a moving object: Could refer to policies that need significant effort to im-
plement. For example, India's National Health Mission requires significant resources for its
implementation across the country.
23. Loss of energy: Similar to 'Waste of energy', inefficient policies may result in loss of re-
sources. The issues of transmission and distribution losses in the electricity sector exemplify
this.
24. Loss of time: Policies that take a long time to implement or show results, like long-term
climate change policies.
25. Amount of substance: This could refer to the volume or extent of a policy. For instance, the
extent of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, covering numerous villages across the coun-
try.
26. Reliability: The trustworthiness or dependability of a policy, like the continued provision
of subsidized foodgrains through the PDS.
27. Accuracy of measurement: This could refer to the precision of policy monitoring and eval-
uation. For example, accurately measuring the impact of the Mid-Day Meal scheme on child
nutrition.
28. Accuracy of manufacturing: Refers to the precision in policy implementation. For example,
the precision required in implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to en-
sure that benefits reach intended beneficiaries.
29. Harmful factors acting on the object: This could refer to the threats to policy implementa-
tion.
30. Harmful side effects: This parameter could be seen as unintended negative consequences of
a policy. An example is the displacement of local communities due to the construction of large
dams under hydropower policies.
31. Sufficiency of action: This parameter speaks to whether a policy goes far enough to address
the problem at hand. The question of whether India's climate change commitments are sufficient
to meet the challenges posed by global warming exemplifies this.
32. Ease of operation, convenience of use: This could refer to how accessible and user-friendly
government services are. Initiatives like the 'Passport Seva Kendras', which aim to simplify the
process of obtaining a passport, are examples of this.
33. Device complexity: Can refer to how complicated a policy or system is. For instance, the
complexity of the tax system in India has often been a point of contention.
34. Device instability: This might refer to the volatility or uncertainty of a policy. The fluctuat-
ing norms and regulations around cryptocurrency in India provide an example.
35. Object-affected harmful factors: This can refer to negative impacts on the recipients of a
policy. An example might be the loss of livelihoods for traditional fisherfolk due to the imple-
mentation of certain coastal tourism policies.
36. Object-generated harmful factors: This parameter could refer to the negative impacts caused
by a policy action. For example, the environmental degradation caused by certain industrial
policies.
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37. Completeness of action: This parameter is about whether a policy addresses all aspects of a
problem. The National Health Mission's comprehensive approach to improving health care ser-
vices across India exemplifies this.
38. Relative availability of a substance: This parameter can refer to the availability of resources
for policy implementation. For instance, the availability of vaccines in the initial stages of the
COVID-19 vaccination drive was a significant issue.
39. Speed of action: This can refer to how quickly a policy is implemented. The rapid response
and implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana in the wake of the COVID-19
pandemic is a pertinent example.
1. Segmentation: The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)
launched by the Government of India aims to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate
robust sewage networks and water supply. It segments the larger infrastructure issue into
smaller sectors like water supply, septage management, storm water drainage, etc.
2. Local Quality: The Panchayati Raj system in India is an excellent example of local quality,
wherein local self-governance bodies create and implement policies considering local contexts
and needs.
3. Merging: India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 consolidated the existing frame-
work by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.
4. 'Nested Doll': The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All Movement) is a program aimed
at the universalization of elementary education "in a time-bound manner” and includes various
smaller initiatives and programs within its larger structure.
5. Anti-Weight: Implementation of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers' crops to coun-
terbalance the effects of market price fluctuations.
6. 'The Other Way Round': The Digital India initiative focuses on electronic services, digital
empowerment of citizens, and improving India's digital infrastructure.
7. Spheroidality: The Make in India initiative is aimed at encouraging manufacturing in India
and encompasses various industries to ensure a well-rounded economic growth.
8. Dynamics: The Startup India policy includes provisions for revisions and modifications over
time to adapt to the evolving startup ecosystem.
9. Beforehand Cushioning: Establishment of the Contingency Fund of India, which is used for
emergencies or unexpected outflows, providing a cushion to handle unforeseen situations.
10. Continuity of Useful Action: Policies like the Public Distribution System (PDS) ensure that
foodgrains are consistently available to the people at subsidized prices.
11. Partial or Excessive Actions: Pilot implementations of certain schemes or programs in spe-
cific regions before national-level implementation, for instance, pilot implementation of the
National Health Protection Scheme in select states.
12. Mechanical Vibration: Amendments in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Information Tech-
nology Act over time, based on evolving societal and technological contexts.
13. Skipping: Adopting contactless payment methods and digital wallets quickly during the
COVID-19 pandemic, skipping or reducing the phase of contact-based card transactions.
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14. 'Intermediary': Use of social workers and ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) work-
ers in implementing health-related government schemes in rural areas.
15. Cheap Short-Living Objects: The use of makeshift quarantine facilities to quickly augment
the health infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
16. Pneumatics and Hydraulics: Gradual introduction of the Right to Information Act across
various departments and states, slowly replacing the culture of opacity with transparency.
17. Homogeneity: The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Re-
habilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, aims to provide a fair compensation mechanism across
different states for land acquisition.
18. Phase Transitions: Drastic shifts in the policy direction towards electric vehicles with the
FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India) scheme.
19. Thermal Expansion: Gradual roll-out of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act,
2016, to avoid systemic shocks in the real estate sector.
20. Strong Oxidants: The accelerated roll-out of digital education initiatives in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
21. Skipping: The Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) initiative
focuses on computerizing all land records, including mutations, digitization of maps, and inte-
grating them into a land information system, skipping the less effective manual system.
22. Feedback: The Mid-Day Meal Scheme in India takes regular feedback from schools and
institutes to ensure proper implementation and address challenges.
23. Self-Service: The Bhoomi project in Karnataka allows landowners to download and print
their land records, making the process more user-driven.
24. Copying: The use of the Forest Rights Act inspired by similar tribal and indigenous rights
recognition in various countries.
25. Cheap Short-Living Objects: The use of mobile ATMs or 'ATM vans' during the demone-
tization phase to handle the immediate need for cash withdrawals.
26. Replacement of Mechanical System: Adoption of digital technologies in elections like Elec-
tronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.
27. Pneumatics and Hydraulics: Gradual introduction of demonetization in phases, from initial
announcement to exchange of notes, to withdrawal limits, and finally to remonetization.
28. Flexible Shells and Thin Films: Flexible policy for e-commerce to incorporate the rapidly
changing landscape of online commerce.
29. Use of Porous Materials: Implementation of local policing initiatives that involve the com-
munity, like community policing and 'beat' systems in local neighborhoods.
30. Color Changes: The use of color-coded pollution under control (PUC) certificates to indi-
cate the pollution level of vehicles.
31. Homogeneity: The National Pension Scheme provides a standardized pension system for
all citizens, including those working in the unorganized sector.
32. Discarding and Recovering: Learning from the implementation challenges of the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan, and incorporating these lessons into the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
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33. Parameter Changes: Adjusting income tax slabs and rates in every budget based on the
current economic situation.
34. Phase Transitions: Introduction of the lockdown in phases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
35. Thermal Expansion: Gradual increase in the scope of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
to cover more beneficiaries and provide free LPG connections.
36. Strong Oxidants: Rapid implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
37. Inert Atmosphere: Ensuring the independence of the Central Bank in making key monetary
policy decisions without undue political influence.
38. Composite Materials: In order to build a complete strategy for housing provision, the Pra-
dhan Mantri Awas Yojana incorporates components of credit-linked subsidies, affordable hous-
ing in collaboration with public and private sectors, and slum restoration.
39. Inert Atmosphere: The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
operates independently of the government. The committee sets benchmark interest rates based
on the inflation target set by the government. Its aim is to ensure price stability while keeping
in mind the objective of growth. This exemplifies an 'inert atmosphere', as the committee carries
out its duties free of direct government intervention, hence maintaining the credibility of the
monetary policy decisions.
40. Composite Materials: The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 can be seen as an example
of this principle. It creates a holistic policy by combining many components of the educational
system, from early childhood to higher education. It attempts to reorganise and modernise the
educational system, making it more adaptable and concentrated on the improvement of students'
cognitive abilities. The NEP is a composite policy that covers numerous facets of education in
India by drawing inspiration from different previous policies and educational philosophies. A
more complex and comprehensive policy intervention that may address a variety of problems
and stakeholder needs in the educational system is made possible by this composite approach.
Applying the Trends of Engineering System Evolution (TESE) from TRIZ to policymaking
involves translating these technological principles into the realm of policy.
1. Increasing Degree of Idealization: Policies should aim to provide maximum benefits to citi-
zens with minimal cost and harm.
For instance, the Products and Services Tax (GST) reform in India attempted to streamline the
tax code, lessen the tax's cascading effect on the price of goods and services, and improve the
efficiency of the tax collecting process. The goal is to get the tax system as close to the "ideal"
state as possible.
2. Evolution Towards Increased Complexity, then Simplification: Policies often start simple,
become increasingly complex over time as they're modified, and should then be simplified
again.
For instance, India's labour laws have historically been complex, with many different acts gov-
erning various aspects of labour rights. Recently, these laws have been consolidated into four
codes, simplifying the system and making it more comprehensible and manageable.
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3. Increasing Dynamism and Controllability: Policies should be adaptable to changing condi-
tions, but also controllable and able to be enforced.
An example is the adaptation of Indian laws to deal with cybercrimes, which were not a major
issue when many laws were originally written but have become increasingly important with the
advent of the digital age. This shows dynamism in policy-making, responding to evolving so-
cietal and technological conditions.
4. Increasing Use of Fields: In policy terms, this could mean leveraging different fields of
knowledge or different sectors of society to achieve policy objectives.
For example, India's National Education Policy 2020 leverages insights from psychology, ped-
agogy, technology, and social sciences to create a comprehensive policy for the future of edu-
cation in India.
5. Evolution Towards Micro-level and Nano-level: Policies may initially address issues on a
large scale, but over time they may become more targeted, dealing with specific groups or re-
gions.
An example in India could be the shift from broad poverty alleviation schemes to more targeted
programs like the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, opening Zero account balance in banks to
all the poor, which aims to increase access to financial services for the poor.
6. Conclusions
In conclusion, the applicability of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) extends
beyond its initial engineering and technological focus and offers a compelling methodology for
modern policymaking. TRIZ's structured problem-solving approach can provide an invaluable
framework for tackling complex policy issues, fostering innovative solutions that may remain
hidden within conventional methods. Its predictive capability, underpinned by the Trends of
Engineering System Evolution (TESE), can enhance policy formulation, allowing for a proac-
tive rather than reactive stance. Resource optimization, a core concept of TRIZ, can ensure
maximal policy impact with minimal resource expenditure, promoting efficiency within the
policy landscape. Furthermore, TRIZ's focus on conflict resolution can play a significant role
in balancing competing interests, a common challenge in policymaking. TRIZ also emphasizes
envisioning an 'Ideal Final Result,' encouraging outcome-based thinking that can drive effective
policy development. Lastly, the interdisciplinary approach of TRIZ, facilitated by its systems
thinking, can inspire the synthesis of ideas across various fields, acknowledging and leveraging
the interconnected nature of today's world in policy decisions. Therefore, integrating TRIZ into
policymaking has the potential to catalyze the creation of more innovative, comprehensive, and
future-ready policies.
References
1. "The Application of TRIZ in Disaster Management" by Guangdong Li and Youguo Li
2. "TRIZ-Based Innovation Methodology for Improving Public Transit System" by I. V.
Shevchenko, D. V. Dunaev, and E. V. Shershneva
3. "TRIZ Application in Waste Management: A Review" by W. S. Lai and M. Z. Abdullah
Communicating Author: Prasanna Bhagwan, prasannabhagwan@gmail.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
CREATING A LEARNING PULL – TRIZ
BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT USE CASE
Prashant Yeshwant Smita Joglekar
Breakthrough Management Group India
Abstract
L&D head of an information technology organization has been challenged with a problem that there is
not enough pull for learning interventions being offered to employees at various levels.
L&D head was trying her best to design & offer interventions as part of her role while having to tackle
plethora of challenges such as scanty learning budget, execution pressure, employees schedule chal-
lenges for nominating themselves for learning interventions, ever changing business processes, mod-
els, & technology landscape to address learning needs, unavailability of experts for designing custom-
ized learning interventions amongst others.
Her manager Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) of the organization asks Learning Head to sur-
vey and identify the ’good’ and the ‘real’ reasons as to why there is no pull from employees for learn-
ing interventions planned for them. CHRO, who have attended TRIZ for Business Innovation Course
suggested L&D head to attend the course to learn TRIZ innovation methods and engage a facilitator to
explore, ideate & implement innovative solutions to address the problem.
L&D head acting on advise of a TRIZ facilitator, reaches out mainly to employees and their reporting
managers to get their honest views on why there is not enough pull for the learning interventions. She
captures all the statements, eliminate duplicate ones, combine related ones, records her own views, and
briefs CHRO with an overall picture.
TRIZ facilitator then helped the L&D team glean insights from the collected information by using Per-
ception Mapping Tool [1] & further assisted team formulate key contradictions, that are directly or in-
directly responsible for not having a pull for learning interventions. Facilitator conducted the ideation
sessions with select employees & reporting managers to generate ideas to improve the situation.
Team was asked to shortlist the initial list of ideas & implement them to change the situation from
‘learning push’ to ‘learning pull’. This transformative project is one of the key management interest
projects and was getting their requisite attention.
Ideas emerged out of this exercise are implemented and there is a huge reduction in the dropout rate
from learning interventions, which narrowed down from 60 % to 15% in the span of 1.5 year. Thus,
there is almost 400% improvement in the chosen business metric.
1. Step By Step Assignment Approach
TRIZ facilitator interacted with L&D head & her team to understand various elements of learn-
ing & development system that included various processes, internal & external stakeholders,
infrastructure.
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Facilitator then put all the collected information in the form of a mind map for ease of retrieval
and for not losing sight of any element which could potentially be useful for finding ingenious
solutions. (Figure 1)
Facilitator also engaged with employees & their managers who are the main consumers of
learning interventions and understand their views & experiences as to why there is not enough
pull for learning interventions. Facilitator could sense that there are lot of perceptions coming
out of these interactions, so she decided to use perception mapping tool to arrive at the key
contradictions.
Facilitator then advised L&D head to collect views of employees and their managers in more
explicit manner. It was not possible to reach out to all the employees and their managers, so a
sample of 100 employees and managers have been selected and asked to put their top 3 reasons
for not having enough pull for learning interventions.
All the statements thus collected were scrutinised to eliminate the duplicate ones, combine the
related ones to arrive at the final set of statements to be analysed using perception map tool.
The analysis of perception mapping was used to arrive at the key contradictions that needs to
be addressed using TRIZ for Business & Management Framework.
Using TRIZ Business & Management Contradiction Matrix and Corresponding Inventive Prin-
ciples team generated ideas and put out the solutions for implementation.
Solutions are prioritised for implementation using EPIC Framework (Ease, Permanence, Impact
& Cost of Solutions)
Action plan with responsibility & target date was finalised and regular reviews are conducted
to ensure adherence to action plan & its effectiveness.
Results of implementation are monitored & validated.
1.2 Mapping Learning & Development Eco-system (Step A& B detailed above)
Figure 1: Holistic View of Learning & Development Eco-System
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1.3 Perception Mapping: A Step By Step Process
The process of mapping perceptions involves 5 steps. Let’s begin with the first step which is to
collect all the perceptions from different stakeholders [1]
1.3.1 Collection of Perceptions of Different Stakeholders
When there are several stakeholders involved in a problem they have a different perception of
a given reality. In this case there are many perceptions of different stakeholders as to ‘Why
there is no pull for learning interventions being offered?’. It therefore became apparent to reach
out to those stakeholders to get those feelings & emotions out in the form of a raw statements
that can be analysed using perception mapping tool basically to identify key contradictions and
then using TRIZ Business Contradiction Matrix to generate solutions to address the problem.
Table 1 on the next page captures all those perceptions that are collected from employees, their
reporting managers, learning head and CHRO. These statements then are finalised after deleting
duplicate ones and consolidating similar ones.
The perception mapping tool is a derivation of a tool known as a ‘flowscape’. A flowscape is a
tool developed by Edward De Bono in 1990
1.3.2 Construction of Flow Map of Perceptions
Refer Table 1 for perception statements. The column ‘Identifier’ is the code given to each indi-
vidual perception. The column ‘Leads To’ records to which other perception this identifier per-
ception connects to. For e.g. Identifier A ‘Unable to find time for learning due to work pressure’
leads to another identifier in the list Y ‘Long learning curve durations of interventions’ so they
appear in the same row.
1.2.2.1 The map is constructed by identifying each perception and asking a question where this
leads to. Every perception we identified leads to one & only perception is the rule we need to
follow. For e.g. ‘faculties are not competent’ leads (B) leads to ‘not enough practical application
to help do my job better’ (C). Each perception feeds into one and only one other perception.
1.2.2.2 Identify a pair or pair of perceptions representing any statements that are contradictory
or in conflicting with one another
1.2.2.3 The next step is to identify type of relationship between different perceptions
There are 3 types of relationships that get formed once we construct the perception mapping
diagram.
The first type is known as ‘LOOP’ for e.g. ‘No appreciation of acquired skills’ (D) leads to ‘No
reward & recognition post learning’ (F). So D leads to F and F leads to D. Since each perception
leads to one & only one another, there will be at least one loop. The loop contains two percep-
tion as a minimum or there could be many forming one large loop.
The second type is known as ‘COLLECTOR POINT’ where several different perceptions lead
to one perception. In this example perception C is a collector point which is ‘no practical appli-
cation of learning’ so many perceptions leads to this one perception and makes it important
The third type is when several perceptions that form a ‘CHAIN’ between the conflict pair iden-
tified in the step 1.2.2.2.
Thus when we map the perception map we need to focus on ‘LOOPS’ ‘CHAINS’ and ‘COL-
LECTOR POINTS’ which will be more significant for us to spot issues to be addressed
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Table 1: Perception Statements and Their Connections To Other Perception Statements
Identifier
Perception Statements
Leads
To
A
Unable to find time for learning due to work pressure
Y
B
Faculties are not competent
C
C
Not enough practical application to help do my job better
G
D
No appreciation of acquired skills
C1
E
No connection between learning and individual's performance
S
F
No reward & recognition post learning
D
G
Absence of alignment of learning interventions with business benefits
E
H
Learning modules are not customized to my need
C
I
Module development cost is high
M
J
Module development time is high
I
K
Module coverage need to be expansive
Y
L
No flexibility of choosing learning time
A
M
Insufficient / No learning budget
G
N
Lack of competency in internal expertise for developing contents
P
O
Poor identification of learning need
P
P
Lack of learning customization
C
Q
Learning is seeing as a time waster
F
R
Learning is seen as must do thing to satisfy KRA of learning & develop-
ment head
W
S
Effectiveness of learning on job performance is unknown
G
T
Inaccessibility of faculty for implementation assistance
U
U
No projects are encouraged and agreed upon before learning intervention
R
V
Doesn’t aid enhancing professional value
U
W
Nomination to outside program which are not expensive doesn’t address
my need
G
X
Learning interventions are not able to keep pace with the changes in the
work content
C
Y
Longer learning duration of interventions
A
Z
No continuous upgradation of learning module
P
A1
Learning modules need to be designed by many outside experts
J
B1
Travel is discouraged to attend learning interventions
A
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Identifier
Perception Statements
Leads
To
C1
Inhouse learning distracts participants as they are often called by their
colleagues / bosses that comes in way of the undivided attention that they
need to have and hence loss of interest of participants in learning.
L
There are 4 distinct areas of learning & development system. All perceptions that are captured
fell under one of these categories
a) Enrolment, Attendance & Engagement
b) Meaning of learning interventions in executing one’s job
c) Motivation for Learning
d) Content Design & Supply Cost
The perception statements received from employees surveyed echoed all the above areas. After
putting down these statements on perception map, it was evident that not all the statements had
‘lead to’ statements for connection if they belong to a distinct category listed hereabove and
hence 4 separate perception maps were prepared for formulating contradictions.[2]
1.3.2.1 Perception Maps
The first set of perception statements were related to employees not enrolling or attending the
learning interventions because of lack of time due to work pressure
Figure 2 : Perceptions related to enrolment, attendance & engagement
The second set of perceptions were related to employees not finding meaning of learning in-
terventions to the jobs that they do.
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Figure 3 : Perceptions related to not finding meaning in learning interventions
The third set of perceptions were related to employee motivation for enrolment and engage-
ment
Figure 4 : Motivation for Learning
The fourth set of perceptions were related to course content design & cost
Figure 5 : Content Design & Cost
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Each perception map present a chain with contradiction pair at its end or along its way. This
contradiction pair is denoted by nomenclature CP followed by the contradiction pair serial
number for e.g. in the figure 5, CP#8 denotes a contradiction pair “Design Capability Vs Sup-
ply Cost” number 8 is a contradiction pair serial number. As an output of perception map
analysis, a holistic attribute conflict diagram was created. The attributes in the attributes con-
flict diagram represents TRIZ Business Parameters. (Figure 6, for more details on business
parameters ) [2]
Figure 6: Attribute Conflict Diagram for Learning System
Attributes are represented by a bubble and nomenclature used represents TRIZ Business Pa-
rameter, the wine red coloured circle represents the parameter number of the TRIZ Business
matrix. For e.g. BP#40 “Engagement” means in contradiction matrix this is parameter number
40 and its nomenclature is ‘Engagement’. The red line is represents conflict between two at-
tributes. For detailed definition of matrix parameters refer [2]
The green arrow in the figure 6 pointing upwards represent the parameter to be improved and
red arrow pointing downwards represent parameter that worsens or stops us from improving
the former. Although there are many attributes on this diagram represented in a bubble, those
represented by blue colour are parameters that are in our control for effecting a change. We
have given priority for ideation of those inventive principles that are connected with these blue
bubbles.
The numbers written on arrow represents inventive principles which are used for ideation and
coming out with solution clues. The following table gives select inventive principles their def-
inition & solution clues. The solution clues are referenced with contradiction pair number it is
supposed to address.
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Table 1: Select Solution Clues based on Suggested Inventive Principles for a Pair of Contradictions
Inventive Principle
Specific Ideas, Solution Clues / Contradictions They Address
(CP#)
1A) Segmentation
Divide an entity, process
or system into separate
parts or sections.
Divide the learning topic into sub-topics, sub-sub-topics and
assign them to individual employees to prepare a learning
module & be a faculty herself
Divide the course into main course and refresher which is an-
nex to the main course, refresher course focusses on changes
that have happened in business practices / processes / technol-
ogy landscape since the first course was designed and deliv-
ered (CP#2 & CP#8)
1C) Segmentation
Increase the degree of
fragmentation or segmen-
tation.
Let every employee design his own content & offer to wider
audience for scrutiny. Time investment for this can be budgeted
in her time sheet. Take employees feedback on each of these
modules to stitch together the best possible course.
Create different versions of the training program Classroom,
Video, Virtual, Audio Files as per the user’s demography &
need.
Create module wise quiz, unless previous module quiz is
cleared second module cannot be offered (CP#2 & CP#8)
2D) Taking Out
Separate different ele-
ments of an object or sys-
tem based on different
condition-based require-
ments.
Employees to choose specific topics that they want to learn by
providing them complete visibility of course coverage. Its like
choosing a menu that they want to consume
Take best out of modules put up by the employees on the same
subject and build a new module taking the best out of all these
modules to make a final course that is most enriching. Use num-
ber of likes on learning portal as a criteria for choosing a spe-
cific content
Chose topic wise faculty instead one faculty for the entire
course
Explain the topic with an example / case study rather than giv-
ing only theoretical details (CP#1,CP#4,CP#9,CP#6)
5B) Merging
Physical join or merge
identical or related entities,
operations, or functions
Peer Group Training
Integrate learning performance into employee goal sheets
Learning hackathon
Merge learning with annual conference / weekly meetings
(CP#5)
7A) & C)
Nested Doll
Give a pause between course curriculum with On Job Assign-
ment so that participants can apply their learning in practice
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Inventive Principle
Specific Ideas, Solution Clues / Contradictions They Address
(CP#)
Put one entity or system
inside another.
Allow one entity or system
to pass through an appro-
priate gap or pause in an-
other.
Identify existing available content and nest together with the
new content. i.e., combination of existing content and new
content
(CP#1,CP#2,CP#4,CP#6,CP#7)
8B) Counterbalance
When an entity or system
deviates from a desired
path, introduce protocols
or forces that provide a
restabilizing effect
Let organization allow some of the working time to be utilized
for training, employees have to then commit equal personal
time to balance out the total time spent on learning
(CP#1,CP#3,CP#4)
13) A&B The Other Way
Round Effect
Invert the entity, process,
or system.
Invert the actions to solve
the problem.
Let the employees, instead of external faculty prepare a small
topic by researching on the subject and then creating their own
modules
Design learning modules to address causes that has resulted in
performance gap instead of putting up the course and expecting
that it will help in improving performance
Let business leaders design the course, make it part of their
KRA and then sell the course. The amount thus gained can be
added to their department budget as a revenue from sale of the
course
Let your colleague, buddy or peer managers of your boss rec-
ommend a program for you based on their assessment what
skills upgrade might help you
(CP#1,CP#2,CP#3,CP#4,CP#5, CP#8)
18) B Resonance
Make use of emotional
‘exciters’
Let employees write the feedback on the learning portal for oth-
ers to feel excited about the program & thus enrol
Handsomely reward employees with learners of the year
award who applied learning to achieve a business result
(CP#2)
19) Periodic Action
Replace continuous ac-
tions with periodic.
Plan the course with different magnitudes of duration to grad-
ually create interest.
(CP#9)
25 A&B) Self Service
25 A & B) Self Service
Enable an entity, process,
or system to organize,
Team identifies & designs their own learning together
Accredited training
Teams pick & chose the content they like to learn from the
learning reservoir and make a course. They can edit the course
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Inventive Principle
Specific Ideas, Solution Clues / Contradictions They Address
(CP#)
manage, change, or trans-
form itself.
like WIKPEDIA whenever they feel they have a better ideas
to present the content which will be useful to subsequent users
(CP#1,CP#2,CP#9)
28)A Emotional Fields
Introduce an emotional ex-
perience element to an en-
tity, process, or system
Let the learning happen by simulating a business scenario and
teams competing through a simulation exercise. Share the the-
ory and / or approach afterwards for participants to learn
where they could have been better in terms of their approach
& thinking and finally offer facilitator’s expert view to con-
clude the exercise.
(CP#3,CP#6)
35) Parameter Change
Change the form / attribute
of a product or service.
Virtual learning modules
Learning department is not a cost centre but a profit centre and
should be run as a business so that more competitive learning
products can be built
Create silent rooms away from workplace where employee can
go sit in a relaxed manner and either listen or see the small bits
of course modules
(CP#4,CP#5,CP#6,CP#7)
37) Relative Change
Use the relative difference
that exist in an object or
system to do something
useful.
Create future scenario exercises to demonstrate why the pro-
gram is necessary and what it can deliver & how it can bridge
the knowledge gaps
Offer different types of programs according to the generation
of the learner, offer different delivery means for every genera-
tion of employees (Classroom, Simulation, Virtual, Video
Clips etc.)
(CP#5,CP#6)
40) Composite
Change from uniform to
composite structures
where each element is op-
timized to a particular
functional requirement
Create module wise / topic wise nominations so that partici-
pants attend what they need to learn and may not attend the en-
tire program if they are time stressed.
(#CP3)
2. Conclusion
TRIZ is a system thinking framework that fuels innovations.
The case presented here shows application of TRIZ for non-technical problem. When there are
many entities and many voices involved and problem statement is as abstract as was initially
presented which was ‘how to create a learning pull’ it is necessary capture all the voices &
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opinions to extract the real system conflicts. A perception map helps us zero down on key con-
tradictions & attributes that we can improve to achieve the set objective in this case ‘how to
create a learning pull’ After having done this we used TRIZ Business Contradiction Matrix and
identified inventive principles to generate solution clues.
The mind map of the entire system helped team ideate on several elements using inventive
principles. The solutions thus generated touched several elements of the system, in this case
‘learning system’ to address the original problem we started with which was ‘how do we create
a learning pull’
The solutions are prioritised and action plan with responsibility was prepared for its implemen-
tation. Several communication meetings happened to start with implementation of some of the
‘out of box’ ideas like employees creating own content, putting up most liked content to form
a course curriculum’ etc. This created excitement & involvement in few employees to start with
and they actively participated in putting the idea into practice .
After 1.5 years into implementation employee dropout rate out of learning interventions nar-
rowed down from 60 % to 15%. Thus, there is almost 400% improvement in this chosen busi-
ness metric. Also the re-survey of select employees & managers showed that there was an im-
provement in on the job performance due to new way of doing things in leaning designing &
executing learning interventions.
References:
1. Darrell Mann, Hands on Systematic Innovation for Business & Management, IFR Press, UK,
2007
2. Darrell Mann, Business Matrix 3.0, Solving Management, People & Process Contradictions,
IFR Press, UK, 2018
Communicating Author: Prashant Y. Joglekar, prashantj@bmgindia.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
FUEL SAVING WINGLETS - TRIZ USE CASE
Prashant Yeshwant Smita Joglekar
Breakthrough Management Group India (BMGI)
Abstract
One of the major cost drivers in an airline industry is Air Turbine Fuel (ATF). The volatile input con-
stantly keeps its margins in check, even though fuel prices have slumped considerably, it has given
airline industry nightmares all through its existence.
The case presented here was when everything was not going hunky--dory for the airline industry and
aircraft manufacturers have to act on SOS basis with their innovations to curb fuel consumption. There
were several ways explored to improve fuel efficiency.
The case discussed here considers the problem of vortex drag reduction at the wingtips which is one of
the major contributors in reduction of the lift force, adversely affecting the fuel efficiency. Following
discussion explores what the problem is, where it occurs, what are the contradictions to be addressed
and how TRIZ (Systematic Innovation Science) contradiction matrix & inventive principles finds its
application in the proposed solution which is tested and validated for improved fuel efficiency offering
several other benefits. Author doesn’t claim that TRIZ is used to arrive at the final solution, which is
winglet in this case but wants to show application of TRIZ in already evolved design. This case is written
with a view to generate interest of engineering professionals in TRIZ and encourage them to use it in
technical problem solving in their own field of work.
The case shows broader & narrower problem definition to zero down on the key problem statements &
contradictions. The paper discusses several type of drag forces acting on the wingtip that affects the lift
force. The ideas & eventually the engineering solution that has come up achieved a vortex drag reduc-
tion to a large extent. Finally it lists several other benefits of winglets beyond saving precious Aviation
Turbine Fuel
Keywords: TRIZ, Drag Reduction, Fuel Efficiency
1. Defining Broader & Narrower Problem
Every problem statement has a broader & narrower part to it. So, airline companies must have
started with an original problem statement ‘how to improve profitability’ which is a universal
problem statement across businesses irrespective of the type of industry. To zero down on the
problem statement which we eventually want to work on, we use ‘WHY-WHAT’s STOPPING
YOU TOOL’ [1]. The tool asks us to keep the main problem statement at the centre and work
upwards asking the question ‘why do we want to solve this problem’ to identify the broader
problem statements. Similarly, the tool helps us go downwards by asking a question ‘what’s
stopping us solve this problem’ this will result in getting more granular problem statements that
either business and / or its partners must work on to address the original problem which in this
case was ‘how to improve profitability of the airline’. (Figure 1)
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Figure 1: Why-What’s Stopping Me Tool to Identify Broader and Narrower Problems
Whilst airline company’s job is to work on the problems and associated factors that they have
control on, which is mainly concerning their own operations & business model architecture.
But when it comes to the problems that their partners need to address, they will have to take it
up with them for resolution, which will benefit both airline company and aircraft manufacturers
by delivering true value to their final customers, the travellers.
Our focus of discussion in this article is the narrower problem that aircraft manufacturer must
define which is to improve fuel efficiency of the aircraft.
1.1 Narrower Problem
After the problem of ‘making aircraft fuel efficient’ landed on aircraft manufacturer’s design
room the first thing they must have done is to look at the system hierarchy of the product,
aircraft in this case & decide where to put their efforts based on the benefit they expect to
achieve as a result of their work, it may so happen that they will work on different aspects of
aircraft sub-system which can potentially contribute to the improvement of ‘fuel efficiency’
(Figure 2) [1]
Figure 2: System Hierarchy Diagram to Shortlist Sub-System for Improvement
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The engine looks to be an obvious choice as it powers the plane by consuming Air Turbine
Fuel. But any investment in already optimised engine may not give manufacturer significant
improvement in the fuel efficiency. There are other components to be looked at which may
require minimum investment to improve and are a good candidates for fuel efficiency improve-
ment.
Wing was chosen as a probable candidate for possible redesign for improving fuel efficiency.
Let’s dive into detail to look at the problems with the wing structure, air dynamics around the
wing that contributes to the lower fuel efficiency.
1.2 Airfoil Components & Lift
An air foil is the shape of a wing. Subsonic flight have a characteristic shape with a rounded
leading edge, followed by a sharp trailing edge, often with asymmetric camber. (Figure 3) [2]
Figure 3 : Air Foil Geometry (Side View) Figure 4 : Air Flow Around The Air Foil
If we recollect Bernoulli’s theorem which says the total pressure of an incompressible fluid is
the sum of the static pressure & the dynamic pressure. If the fluid is air and the means by which
the fluid is accelerated is an air foil, the side on which the fluid travels the maximum distance
will have the highest velocity and lowest static pressure and vice a versa. The difference in the
velocity on each side of the air foil determines the static pressure differential. That is what
generates lift. The lift on an air foil is primarily the result of its shape and its angle of attack.
When either or both are positive the resulting flow field about the air foil has a higher average
velocity on the upper surface than on the lower surface. The velocity difference is necessarily
accompanied by a pressure difference, which in turn produces the lift force.(Figure 4) [3]
Designing a wing would have been simple if it were a two dimensional air foil. But wing has a
finite length. The difference in air pressure between the lower & upper surfaces of a wing causes
the air to escape around the wingtip which reduces the available lift. We will see the phenom-
enon in detail in the following discussion on drag.
1.3 Drag
Drag simply means the harmful forces acting on the wing which reduces the available lift. There
are two types of drag the first type is lift induced drag which is 40% of total drag and the other
is parasitic drag which is around 60% of total drag.
The lift induced drag is a drag which occurs as the result of the creation of lift on a three di-
mensional lifting body. Induced drag primary consists of two component the vortex drag and
the viscous drag.
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The motion of the air rushing around the wingtip coupled with the velocity of the airflow
through which the wing is flying causes a vortex to be formed near the wingtip (Figure 5) [4].
The tip vortices cause upwash and downwash air currents that alter the current of the free stream
flow around the wing. They induce a decrease in the angle of attack of the average relative wind
flowing around the wing. This has two undesirable by-products as shown in figure below. First
the wing generates lift perpendicular to the average relative wind. This diverts the lift vector
away from the desired direction which is perpendicular to the free stream. Diverting the lift
vector causes a drag component to be generated that is parallel to the free stream airflow. The
drag component varies as the cosine of the angle between total lift vectors (Figure 6)
Figure 5 : Wing Three Dimensional Flow Figure 6 : Induced Drag & Lift Vectors
The up-wash / downwash effect (Figure 7) [5] of the tip vortices (Figure 8) [6] has its greatest
influence of the wing section closest to the tip. The tip vortex has little effect on the average
relative wind of the wing sections far inboard from the wingtip. In other words, if you push the
winglets outboard, a smaller section of the wing will be effected by the tip vortices which will
reduce the upwash and downwash effect. In other words if the span were infinite induced drag
would be zero because there would be no wingtip.
Figure 7 : Upwash / Downwash Effect Figure 8 : Vortex at the Wingtip
1.3.2 Parasitic Drag
Parasitic drag is drag caused by moving a solid object through fluid. This is around 60% of the
drag. Parasitic drag is made up of multiple components including form drag which is a result
of form of the object, skin drag which occurs because of interaction between the skins of the
object. As seen above a very large long wing, one with infinite span to chord ratio would have
enormous parasitic drag. But with optimised wing span, chord and air foil sections the drag can
be controlled. However still the vortex drag remains & affects the wingtip reducing the overall
lift.
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The vortex drag can be theoretically minimised by having an infinite span to chord ratio known
as aspect ratio. Now if we optimise the aspect ratio for the improvement in lift coefficient then
the result shows us that there is a marginal difference in the lift coefficient for the aspect ratio
(Figure 9) [7] starting from 8 onwards to infinity, which means the system has hit the funda-
mental limit and cannot be improved by further optimisation (Figure 10) [8]
Figure 9 : Wing Geometry & Aspect Ratio Figure 10 : Aspect Ratio & Lift Coefficient
2. TRIZ Contradictions Matrix & Applicable Inventive Principles
2.1 Contradiction Formulation
As evident from the above discussion, wingtips create a drag by the vortices it generates. This
drag causes more fuel burn increasing the operational cost for airline companies. Drag can be
reduced by increasing the wing-span. We can use optimisation tools to optimise aspect ratio
(span to area ratio) to get the best results for lift coefficient. But there is a cost to an experimen-
tation and beyond a point it may not be feasible to do optimisation.
Now if wing span is increased according to our wish for maximising lift coefficient, the plane
may not fit the gate after landing it on the ground. At present in 747 aircraft wings are attached
to fuselage nearly by 1600 bolts any increase in length will weaken the strength of this ‘fuselage
& wing joint’ it will also hamper manufacturing cycle time. So increasing wing length is not
easy as it looks [9]
Now on formulating contradictions for this problem. Some of the TRIZ researchers are of the
opinion that physical contradiction is more important than a technical contradiction. While
some other TRIZ researchers believe that both/and approach of contradiction resolution is far
better than either/or approach. [10] The discussion here shares a new approach of conversion
between Physical & Technical Contradiction using theory of constraints tool ‘Evaporating
Clouds’ [10]
The approach goes something like this on the right hand side of the figure 11 there are two ovals
‘Parameter A’ and ‘Parameter -A’. These two, exactly as defined by evaporating cloud model,
represent physical contradiction. The ‘Conflict Parameter 1’ and ‘Conflict Parameter 2’ ovals
then represent our technical conflict pair. Although these two items are also in the original
Evaporating model, they are not identified as being in conflict with each other. We may make
this connection more explicit in the figure 11 by connecting two ovals. This represents our
technical contradiction since the way in which we define the problem, we want to have two
contradicting defined parameters. Finally on the left hand side of the picture is the oval labelled
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‘successful outcome’ this is the aspect of our system that both the conflict parameters are re-
quired to support.
Figure 11 : Generic Scheme of Converting Between Physical & Technical Contradictions
We have applied this framework to our vortex reduction problem and the resultant scheme rep-
resenting relationship between physical & technical contradiction is as under (Figure 12). The
goal of this contradiction resolution framework is to find innovative ideas inspired by TRIZ
inventive principles to lower vortex force without increasing the length or span.
Figure 12 : Physical & Technical Contradictions Connection to VORTEX Reduction Problem
Let us discuss this framework in detail. Let’s start with connection A (Figure 12). Now tip
vortex reduction is our main goal. Following the concept of Ideality (Ideal Final Result) the
true value of this attribute should be zero at least theoretically which is possible if we have
infinite wing length. This is how we make this connection A. The lower vortex drag (ideal value
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zero) results in no loss in lift force which results in less fuel burn. The outcome of this solution
is improved fuel efficiency.
Wing is connected to fuselage by 1600 bolts, now when we increase the length of the wing
many folds as mentioned in connection A, obviously the existing strength of the joint will pose
a challenge and will be a worsening parameter, which necessitates us to have a shorter wing
length. Refer Connection C of Figure 12.
2.2 Contradiction Matrix and Applicable Inventive Principles
Thus, now we have a technical contradiction represented by connection B where improving
parameter is vortex force (TRIZ Contradiction Matrix Technical Parameter #15 Force) and
worsening parameter, the parameter that stops us from achieving this (TRIZ Contradiction Ma-
trix Technical Parameter #20 Strength)
The inventive principles applicable to resolve such type of contradiction are represented on
connection B they are 35 – Parameter Changes, 14 – Curvature, 09 – Preliminary Anti-Action,
03 – Local Quality, 17 – Another Dimension, 05- Merging, 12-Equipotentiality, 07- Nested
Doll, 27 – Cheap Short Living Object [10]
Now let’s examine connection D which represents a physical contradiction with attribute as
length. The physical contradiction in space here is ‘Longer Wing Length’ and ‘Shorter Wing
Length’, where we want two opposite properties in the same object.
The brilliance of TRIZ, 70+ years old researched innovation science is that it leads innovation
teams to an ingenious solution to the problem, that at first, looks difficult or crazy enough to
solve.
The inventive principles suggested to solve this type of physical contradictions are. [1]
01-Segmentation, 02- Taking Out, 03- Local Quality, 17- Another Dimension, 13- The Other
Way Round, 14- Curvature, 07- Nested Doll, 30- Flexible Shells and Thin Films, 04- Asym-
metry, 24- Intermediary, 26- Copying
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Figure 13 : Common Inventive Principles in Both Technical & Physical Contradiction
2.3 Inventive Principles Application & Solution
Aircraft engineers would have made us believe that aerodynamics is a mature science until
NASA’s Richard T Whitcomb invented vertical winglets which could reduce the drag by nearly
20%. As we have seen above that stretching wingspan or increasing aspect ratio certainly re-
duces induced drag. But designers though must balance the benefits of less induced drag against
the cost of structural weight increases, more parasitic drag, or cost considerations.
Winglet works because they efficiently produce side forces that divert the inflow of air from tip
vortex & therefore the drag, so lift is not affected as it is with the normal wing and there is an
improvement in lift to drag performance resulting in lesser fuel consumption.
Here is decoding Inventive Principles with their interpretation. We chose 9 out 20 which appear
more appropriate for ideation or already have solutions that is contributing to vortex force re-
duction. (Table 1)
Another insight from the above method we got is the commonality of inventive principles sug-
gested for technical & physical contradictions. So, inventive principles 14,03,17,07 find appli-
cation in all winglet design options. So, this type of contradiction formulation offers reduction
in ideation time and faster implementation of solutions.
Table 1: Inventive Principles and Interpretation of Most Relevant Principles
We see application of these inventive principles in various winglet design that are in existence
to reduce the vortex force and improve fuel efficiency. [11]
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Figure 14: Winglet Designs and Applicability of Inventive Principles
Figure 14: Winglet Designs and Applicability of Inventive Principles
Benefits of Introducing Winglets
a) Fuel consumption reduced over 7 % at speeds between 0.75 Mach to 0.80 Mach
b) Typical 737 operators save @ 95,000 – 1,30,000 gallons per aircraft per year and this is for
the entire economic life of the aircraft
c) It has also environment benefits which reduces carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide by 4 %
& 5 % respectively
d) Increase in the flight speed, improved stability & also faster climb to initial cruise altitude
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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e) Reduction in the take-off distance also benefits the airline operator to use airports having the
shorter runways.
f) The increased lift offered by the sharklets also provides a larger amount of cargo to be
loaded.
3. Conclusions
TRIZ is a wonderful innovation science. Several of its problem formulation and solution gen-
eration tools have been validated by extensive research conducted over past 70 years and being
continued today to help present-day every changing business & technology landscape.
“Someone somewhere has solved a problem “is the basic premise of TRIZ. The case discussed
here shows how to formulate correct contradictions and how we can use tools from other world
class approaches like TOC to help us generate innovative solutions.
It is my experience that if organisations use TRIZ for problem definition and ideation, they will
get breakthrough ideas which will help them stay ahead of their competition. The process
should work best when you have TRIZ facilitator & subject matter experts working as one team.
One of the ways teams can learn TRIZ with reverse ideation that is by looking at the solution
which is already there then thinking on the contradictions that it has overcome.
If 20th Century was of experts creating SILOS, then 21st century is of Innovation Generalist
who will use systematic Innovation Process & Toolkit to connect the domain experts to create
ingenious innovative solutions that are well & truly IDEAL or at least close to ideal.
References
1. Darrell Mann, Hands on Systematic Innovation for Technical Systems, IFR Press, 2007
2. Air foil Geometry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airfoil
3. Understanding Airflow around the air foil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_(force)
4. Understanding Winglets Technology, Minister of Education, Israel's government services and
information website https://cms.education.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/D9F6FC7B-A508-43C8-
BB34-5C6D8AE0346D/178686/Understanding_Winglets_Technology.pdf
5. Upwash and Downwash Effect. International Journal of Science & Technology, Volume 8,
Issue 4, April 2020 https://www.ijraset.com/fileserve.php?FID=27724
6. Oleg Lisitsin, Wingtips, Winglets & Sharklets- Airplane’s Fuel Assistants,
https://engre.co/blogs/articles/wingtips-winglets-sharklets-airplanes-fuel-assistance/
7. Beginners Guide to Aeronautics, Glen Research Centre, NASA
https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/wing-geometry/
8. Beginners Guide to Aeronautics, Glen Research Centre, NASA
https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/downwash-effects-on-lift/
9. Here is why wings don’t fall of airplanes, Seeker by the Verge, a YOU TUBE Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMsoKy_MV6w
10. Darrell Mann, Matrix 2010, Re-updating the contradiction matrix, ID, IFR Press, UK 2009
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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11. Niel Nomark Sorensen, Numerical Analysis of Winglets on Wind Turbine Blades using CFD,
Technical University of Denmark, January 2007
Communicating Author: Prashant Y. Joglekar, prashantj@bmgindia.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
TRIZ APPROACH TO INNOVATION PORTFOLIO
ANALYSIS
Simon S. Litvin
GEN TRIZ, LLC, Boston, USA
Abstract
Selection of the right object for innovation is the first stage of the New Product Development (NPD)
Stage Gate Process. Traditional Project Portfolio Management (PPM) focuses on doing the right projects
at the right time by selecting and managing projects as a portfolio of investments. Effective PPM in-
creases business value by aligning projects with a company’s strategy, making the best use of limited
resources, and building synergies between projects. Unfortunately, organizations often do portfolio
management poorly. As a result, they fail to deliver strategic results because they attack wrong projects
or cannot say “no” to too many projects. Unfortunately, there are no specific methodological tools for
effective PPM.
TRIZ provides a practical rigorous systematic approach to the company’s Innovation Portfolio Analy-
sis (IPA). Unlike traditional PPM, TRIZ approach includes developing new generation product con-
cepts and identifying enabling technologies for new products and new distribution channels.
TRIZ tools that are effective for IPA include Main Parameters of Value Discovery, Evolutionary
Trends Analysis, Technology Landscaping, Benchmarking, and Roadmapping.
The deliverables of the IPA process are a set of product portraits and enabling technologies for the
short-term, mid-term and long-term business opportunities. From the business standpoint it allows a
company commanding premium pricing, recognizing higher margins, and increasing profitability
Keywords: New Product Development, Project Portfolio Management, Innovation Portfolio Analysis,
Evolutionary Trends, Main Parameters of Value, Value Landscaping, Technology Roadmapping, In-
novation Agenda
1. Background
1.1 Prior studies
Many prior studies concentrated on how to manage single new product development projects
rather than on how to manage the corporate or business unit level’s portfolio of innovation
projects [1]. However, the use of different tools and techniques for planning, analyzing, and
evaluating a firm's portfolio of ongoing innovation projects may help to reduce many firms'
managerial difficulties in innovation management. This paper discusses the particular charac-
teristics and key goals of innovation portfolio management. In addition, it provides specific
TRIZ-based tools for managing innovation portfolios.
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Innovation Portfolio Management (IPM) is increasingly regarded as an important driver of a
firm's innovation performance. While the new product development process refers to "manag-
ing innovation projects right", innovation portfolio management addresses the issue of "man-
aging the right innovation projects". These portfolio-level activities may be complementary to
the well-known New Product Development (NPD) process, and this complementary nature sug-
gests that innovation portfolio management may be an understudied driver of innovation suc-
cess [2].
IPM addresses the resource allocation across a firm's portfolio of new product development
projects consistent with corporate strategy. There are four categories of company’s perspec-
tives: optimization perspective, strategic perspective, decision-making perspective, and organ-
izational perspective [3]. These different approaches to IPM have been largely disconnected so
far, but they can complement one another to provide new theoretical insights into innovation
research. The different approaches are therefore integrated into an overarching perspective and
a detailed approach to the Innovation Portfolio Agenda is proposed.
1.2 Sources of company revenue growth
There are five major strategies for a company revenue growth [4] (see Table 1).
Table 1. Strategies for a company revenue growth
Source of Growth
Description
Comment
Base Retention
Keep existing custom-
ers from switching to
competitors
• To grow, you have to first not lose
customers
• Loss of existing customers (churn)
is a common byproduct of acquisi-
tions
Share Gain
Induce customers to
switch from competi-
tors
• The hardest way to grow as com-
petitors will defend valuable cus-
tomers
• Acquiring competitors is one way
to gain share
Market Positioning
Play where growth is
expected to take
place
• Growth through innovation - cap-
ture new customers due to the bet-
ter features of your product
• Easiest way to grow → potentially
uncontested
Adjacencies
Apply existing capabil-
ities and technology to
related market oppor-
tunities
• New market segments or new ser-
vices to existing segments
• Reconfiguration of existing tech-
nologies and competencies
New Line of Busi-
ness
Create new business
• Transformational innovation – ad-
dressing newly discovered MPVs
2. Innovation Portfolio Analysis and Innovation Agenda
2.1 Innovation Portfolio Analysis – Goals, Activities, and Deliverables
The main goals of Innovation Portfolio Analysis (IPA) are as follows [5]:
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• Select current products or product categories for further development
• Develop new product concepts
• Identify enabling technologies for new products and new
distribution channels
The Ultimate Goal is to generate a business-wide Innovation Agenda for a company. The In-
novation Agenda is a coordinated multi-year plan for innovation initiatives across a company’s
business that is directly linked to its business growth objectives.
The main activities of the IPA process are as follows:
• Client’s assets audit (material, human, intellectual, etc.)
• Identification of latent market needs (Main Parameters of Value)
• Markets potential assessment
The deliverable of the IPA process is a set of product portraits and enabling technologies for
the short- term, mid-term and long-term business opportunities. It allows a company to:
• Command premium pricing
• Recognize higher margins
• Increase profitability
2.2 GEN TRIZ Approach to Innovation Portfolio Analysis – Process
The IPA process is shown on Fig. 1.
Figure 3. The IPA process
2.2.1 Initial Planning
The process of Initial Planning includes Markets Segments Definition, Project Scaling, and
Main Parameters of Value (MPV) Identification [6, 7, 9]. We first define the market segments
within which our products/services are distributed. Next, we scale the project, i.e., we determine
the number of company’s business units and customer categories that should be involved, as
well as resources, timetable, and the degree of granularity for the analysis.
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The most important part of Initial Planning is MPV Identification. MPV is an attribute or feature
of the product that is currently unsatisfied on the market and is important for a customer’s pur-
chasing decision. MPVs may be derived from existing market surveys (Voice of the Customer)
or through the TRIZ-based MPV Discovery process (Voice of the Product).
The outcome of the Initial Planning are as follows:
• Major Product Categories
• Set of Main Parameters of Value
• Work Plan
2.2.2 Portfolio Value Landscaping
The goals of Portfolio Value Landscaping are as follows:
• Characterization and prioritization of innovation opportunities based on a room for im-
provement (in terms of MPVs) and Gross Profit Potential (market size and gross profit
potential)
• Form a basis for an initial filtering of innovation opportunities
The process of Portfolio Value Landscaping includes Product Categories Selection, MPV Iden-
tification, MPV Performance and Price Determination, and Product Landscaping.
In the Product Categories Selection, we cluster very different products (specs, markets, cost,
etc.) into a Product Categories (families) Inventory, which in subsequent steps will be compared
using the same scale.
During MPV Identification, we identify the MPVs of each product category through Voice of
the Customer and Voice of the Product procedures.
During MPV Performance and Cost Determination, we collect the data that in the next step
(Product Landscaping) will allow us to compare widely different products. We compare very
different products in terms of three parameters that they have in common:
• Performance in terms of main functions. Every product in order to address some MPV
performs functions. The first comparison parameter is how well it performs them. In
order to evaluate this performance, we determine the market requirements for those
MPVs. We also determine how well the MPV actually performs with regard to those
requirements. In addition, we determine how important each MPV is relative to the other
MPVs.
• Relative Price - is the product more or less expensive than the competing product; this
ratio (not the $) is our second comparison parameter. Relative price is the ratio between
the price of a company’s product and mean price of competitive products.
• Gross Profit Potential - how much money can a product potentially derive from its mar-
ket segment; GPP is our third parameter. To determine Gross Profit Potential, we collect
various market data for each product: Market Size, Market Growth or Decline Rate,
Gross Profit Margin, Market Share, etc.
The outcome of this stage is the Portfolio Value Landscape with an inventory of the major
product categories, their MPVs, performance, and cost, as well as Gross Profit Potential.
An example of Portfolio Value Landscaping is shown on Fig 2.
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Figure 4. Portfolio Value Landscaping
Portfolio Value Landscaping allows us to compare different products with different character-
istics on the same scale.
The last stage of Portfolio Value Landscaping is Product Landscaping. It consists of the
following activities:
• MPV Performance vs. Price Landscape. It shows how products in the portfolio perform
relative to market requirements; and how products are priced relative to competitors.
MPV Performance is the single measure of the extent to which a product achieves cus-
tomer requirements. The gap between actual performance and customer requirements is
a measure of scope for improving the performance of a product. MPV Performance (P)
is the average performance relative to each MPV, weighted by the importance of each
MPV; a perfect score is 1.0. The formula for MPV Performance is:
i Value ofameter Major Parof importanceα
i Value ofameter Major Par torelative eperformancp
,10..1;1;
10
1
i
i
1
=
=
===
=
criteriaofnumberNppP ii
N
iii
Relative Price is the ratio of company’s pricing to average pricing by competitors. Both of these
elements are used as foundation to derive various perspectives on the product portfolio.
• Gross Profit Potential vs. Customer Value Landscape. It shows the value of products
in the portfolio delivered to customers and the aggregate profit potential from each prod-
uct category. Gross Profit Potential (GPP) is a total profit pool available to participants
in the market. It is the theoretical maximum profit to be gained for a player with 100%
market share. GPP is the projected market size (current market size adjusted for three
years of compound growth) multiplied by the projected gross margin. Customer Value
is the MPV Performance of a company’s product divided by relative price.
A sample of a Gross Profit Potential vs. Customer Value Landscape is shown on Fig 3.
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Figure 5. Gross Profit Potential vs. Customer Value Landscape
Products in the northeast quadrant of Figure 3 are delivering significant value in attractive mar-
kets and should barring other barriers to success, enjoy a strong market share and corresponding
profits.
Products in the northwest quadrant of Figure 3 have high profit potential but are (or may be-
come) vulnerable to competitive products with superior value. These are the high-priority can-
didates for performance improvement.
Products in the southwest quadrant of Figure 3 may have fundamentally low profit potential
and should be given low priority. However, in some cases it makes sense to evaluate their po-
tential for improving their profit margins and/or expanding market demand.
And finally, products in the southeast quadrant of Figure 3 are delivering high value to unat-
tractive markets. It is possible that the same competencies that created this high value could be
applied to more attractive adjacent markets.
• Market Potential vs. Profit Margin Landscape. Products with low gross margins in
small markets can be safely considered to have low Gross Profit Potential. However,
some products with a low calculated Gross Profit Potential are in markets of significant
size. These products may have gross margin issues that can be addressed through pric-
ing, cost-reducing / price-enhancing innovations, changes in raw material pricing, etc.
They remain under consideration for the Innovation Agenda.
Similarly, for products with high gross margins and a small market size, which may
benefit from market-expanding innovation
• Opportunity Set formulation. The products in the northwest quadrant of Figure 4 are
the primary targets for product innovation; they’re the Opportunity Set for product in-
novation.
2.2.3 Competitive Value Landscaping
The goals of Portfolio Value Landscaping are as follows:
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• Characterization and prioritization of innovation opportunities based on the intensity of
the competitive environment
• Forms a basis for an additional filtering and prioritization of innovation opportunities
The outcome of this stage is the Competitive Value Landscape with an inventory of main prod-
uct categories and their key competitors, their performance in terms of MPVs relative to that of
their key competitors, and their cost competitive positioning.
An example of Competitive Value Landscaping is shown on Fig 4.
Figure 6. Competitive Value Landscaping
Competitive Value Landscaping allows us to compare different products with different charac-
teristics as related to competitive products on the same scale.
Portfolio and Competitive Landscapes are used to objectively identify the Opportunity Set:
products that are the best candidates for innovation activities to achieve company’s strategic
business goals.
2.2.4 Evolutionary Trends Analysis and Technology Roadmapping
The goals of this stage of analysis are as follows:
• Determine the technical maturity of the Opportunity Set products and their development
potential
• Visualize the direction of improvement of Opportunity Set product categories by apply-
ing general trends of technology evolution
• Validate and clarify their MPVs and identify their latent (non-obvious) MPVs
The main tool for this stage is the set of objective Trends of Engineering System Evolution
developed by G. Altshuller and his followers [8].
The outcomes of this stage are short-, mid-, and long-term innovation initiatives focused to
improve the MPV performance of the Opportunity Set products.
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2.2.5 Strategic Prioritization
Strategic Prioritization serves as a second filter of prioritization of the Opportunity Set based
on business strategy sectors
The outcomes of this stage are Opportunity Set innovation initiatives ranked according to Prod-
uct Competition Intensity, Long-Term Market Attractiveness, Synergy of Technical Chal-
lenges, and Strategic Importance of product contribution.
Product Competition Intensity is a degree to which competitive products rival the company’s
ones with regard to the customer’s selection criteria (MPVs).
Long-Term Market Attractiveness is a measure of the profit pool and the relative ease with
which a company can tap into a market.
2.2.6 Building Innovation Agenda
The goal of this stage of analysis is to match the Opportunity Set innovation initiatives with the
company’s strategy, growth objectives, and core competencies.
The outcome of this stage is an Innovation Agenda of high-priority innovation initiatives se-
quenced in accordance with the company’s growth objectives and mapped into innovation pro-
ject types.
3. Case Study
3.1 Background
Our client was the world’s biggest producer of aluminum products. They manufactured hun-
dreds of different products in several product categories: rolled Al, Al wheels, Al vehicle
frames, Al consumer products (foils, etc.).
The company made a decision to focus on the most promising current product categories and
diversify its business toward new lucrative products. GEN TRIZ was invited to provide an in-
novation project portfolio management program. GEN TRIZ executed this program in 2010-
2011.
3.2 GEN TRIZ process
GEN TRIZ applied its TRIZ-based Innovative Portfolio Analysis process that included
Portfolio Audit and Value Landscaping, Evolutionary Trends Analysis, Technology
Roadmapping, MPV Discovery, Strategic prioritization, and Innovation Agenda building.
3.3 Business results
It was recommended (and implemented) to sell out one of the company’s product categories /
business units – Al consumer products.
The new product category was developed and introduced - Al computer frames (see Fig 5).
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Figure 7. Al computer frames
Value proposition for the company:
The proposed new product provides thin, high-performance laptops by removing battery from
base and using flat keyboard with integrated thermal management system. Laptop attractiveness
improved through use of aluminum case and assembly friendliness increased through part con-
solidation.
Differentiation factors / technical advantages of the proposed new product:
• Thinnest laptop available
• Flat keyboard technology (optical or pressure sensors)
• Sealed keyboard
• Thermal conductivity of aluminum
• Aluminum surface finishing technology
Key Success Factors:
• Effective consolidation of keyboard and thermal management components
• Cool (attractive) surface finish
4. Conclusions
TRIZ provides a practical systematic approach to company’s Innovation Portfolio Analysis (IPA). Un-
like traditional IPA, TRIZ approach is practical results oriented. It includes developing new generation
product concepts and identifying enabling technologies for new products.
The deliverables of the TRIZ-based IPA process are a set of product portraits and enabling technolo-
gies for the short-term, mid-term and long-term business opportunities. From the business standpoint it
allows a company to command premium pricing, recognizing higher margins, and increasing profita-
bility.
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Michael Treacy, Mikhail Verbitsky, Pat Casey, Alex Lyubomirskiy,
and Victor Fey for their input.
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References
1. Coulon M., Ernst H., Lichtenthaler U., and Vollmoeller J., An overview of tools for
managing the corporate innovation portfolio. International Journal of Technology Intelligence
and Planning, Vol. 5, No. 2., March 30, 2009, pp. 221-239.
https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTIP.2009.024191
2. Ernst H. and Lichtenthaler U., Innovation portfolio management: an understudied driver of
innovation success? International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 5,
No. 2. March 30, 2009, pp. 111-117. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTIP.2009.024173
3. Meifort A., Innovation Portfolio Management: a Synthesis and Research Agenda. Creativity
and Innovation Management, Volume 25, Issue 2. March 9, 2015, pp. 251-269.
https://doi.org/10.1111/caim.12109
4. Treacy M., Double Digits Growth: How Great Companies Achieve It - No Matter What.,
Penguin Books, 2005.ISBN 10: 0144000865
5. Verbitsky M, Casey P. Quantitative Diagnostics of Product Portfolio and Creation of
Innovation Agenda. 2006.
6. Treacy M., Innovation as a Last Resort, Harvard Business Review (July/August 2004)
7. Treacy M., Reinventing Innovation. Annual PDMA International Meeting, Innovation in
Global Product Development: Driving Sustainable Growth and Productivity across the Value
Chain (October 22 – 26, 2005)
8. Altshuller G., The Innovation Algorithm: TRIZ, Systematic Innovation and Technical
Creativity”, 1999. Technical Innovation Center,
9. Litvin S., MPV: from Business Challenges to Technical Problems. 2nd International
Conference on Systematic Innovation, Shanghai, China, 2011
Communicating Author: Simon S. Litvin, slitvin@gen-triz.com
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
SPACE-TIME-PARAMETER OPERATOR FOR
ADVANCED FUNCTION ANALYSIS
Stéphane Savelli *, Oleg Y. Abramov **
*MP Solving, Brussels, Belgium
**Algorithm, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Abstract
This paper proposes an extension to the Advanced Function Approach developed by Simon
Litvin et al. An extension is the Space-Time-Parameter (STP) operator applied to the Space-
Time-Parameter Function Interface (STPFI), which considers where, when, and at what param-
eter values a function is performed. The STP operator suggests mental shrinking and expansion
of the STPFI in space, in time and along function parameters to see if any of these mental
modifications yield a benefit for some main parameter of value (MPV) of the technical system
under consideration. As a result of applying this operator, we can identify exact time slot, space
zone or/and a specific parameter in which the function is insufficient or excessive. This
knowledge can help the TRIZ practitioner identify innovation opportunities that might have
been overlooked otherwise. Three case studies are included to illustrate the proposed approach.
Keywords: space-time-parameter function interface, function analysis, TRIZ
1. Introduction
The scope of the present paper includes the application of TRIZ in any technological innovation
project, through a general TRIZ roadmap or a specific TRIZ roadmap used in GEN-TRIZ meth-
odology [1]. The typical goal of such project is either to develop conceptual solutions for an
innovative Engineering System (ES), or to generate ideas (i.e. portraits, not solutions) of the
innovative ES. In the analytical part of the roadmap, the TRIZ practitioner performs Function
Analysis of the initial ES and its supersystem (in case of sustainable innovation) or Function
Analysis of the benchmarked system and its supersystem (in case of radical innovation).
It should be noted that in a New Product Development (NPD) project, Functional Analysis is
the most important source of the Main Parameters of Value (MPV) [2] to be implemented in
the new product.
However, some important functional weaknesses, and thus potential MPVs, can be missed in
"classical" Function Analysis since this analysis does not consider the space where functions
are performed and their timing.
Therefore, the Advanced Function Approach (AFA), has been suggested [3] to address this
flaw. As compared to regular Function Analysis, AFA suggests a more precise analysis by:
• Indicating the time interval during which a useful function is performed and dividing it
into smaller intervals at which the performance of the function is different.
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• Indicating the spatial location where a useful function is performed and dividing it in
smaller zones where the performance of the function is different.
An illustrative example of the AFA is the fragment of the function model of a toothbrush pre-
sented in Table 1 below. This example shows that the main useful function (MUF) of the tooth-
brush is performed differently during different time intervals and in different spatial locations,
which allows for determining functional flaws more precisely, for example:
• Toothbrush insufficiently removes plaque on the palatal side surface of teeth during t30.
• Toothbrush insufficiently removes plaque on the side surface of teeth during t40.
• While the harmful function “teeth hold plaque” under gum during t0 is fulfilled, there
is no useful function “toothbrush removes plaque under gum” at all.
Table 1: Illustrative example of the AFA applied to a toothbrush [3]
Basically, AFA allows to identify functional flaws in specific space zones and/or time intervals
where:
• A useful function is underperformed or performed excessively,
• A useful function is absent (this can be treated as a function with zero performance), or
• There is a harmful function.
However, AFA [3] does not specify the way how these flaws can be reliably detected, and the
goal of this work is to partially fill this gap. The focus of the paper is on useful functions (first
two bullets on the list above).
2. Space-Time-Parameter Function Interface
Noteworthy when the authors mention for instance “side surface of teeth”, it is a simplification:
according to the basic rules of Function Analysis, the real location of the “toothbrush removes
plaque” function is the interface between the toothbrush (actually, its bristles) and the plaque
on the side surface of the teeth. This interface evolves as the plaque is eroded by the bristles.
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In the most general case, at any given time, the spatial intersection between a function carrier
and a function recipient is the location (point, curve, surface or volume) where a function is
performed through the interaction of those two components that touch each other (i.e. have an
intersection in space at a given time): this is the function interface (see Fig.1).
Figure 1: Schematic drawing of the function interface (in red shaded area) at the spatial inter-
section of a function carrier and a function recipient
The shape of the function interface evolves over time. Along a positively oriented time axis, it
usually appears and disappears at least once. Let us consider the usual case of a single, intrinsic
parameter P characterizing the performance of the function. A new TRIZ object is proposed:
the combination of all functional interfaces at different moments of time and the related com-
bination of all numerical values of functional parameters at these interfaces is denoted as Space-
Time-Parameter Function Interface (acronym: STPFI; see Fig. 2 for a schematic representa-
tion). At each point in time, the numerical values of a function parameter at the functional in-
terface can be either a global, unique value or a set of local values. Thus, STPFI is an object of
geometric nature, and if N is the number of function parameters, then the dimension of the
STPFI is 4 + N.
Figure 2: Schematic representation of the Space-Time-Parameter Function Interface (STPFI)
of a function with performance parameter P that depends on time and possibly space (only
some discrete time “shots” are shown)
The STPFI is worth being examined in detail, because its parts (space, time or parameters)
could be characterized by:
function carrier
function recipient
function interface
t
t1
t2
t3
t4
t5
P(t1)
P(t2)
P(t3)
P(t4)
P(t5)
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• Insufficient or, on the contrary, excessive functional performance as measured by one
or more intrinsic function parameters.
• Redundant or, on the contrary, missing functions in space and/or time.
These considerations may lead us to the idea that the performance of a function can be defined
and measured not only with respect to function parameters that are intrinsic to the recipient of
the function, but also with respect to universal parameters such as space and time. Therefore, it
is proposed to modify the table template of the AFA (see for instance Table 1) by:
• Separating the column “type/rank and level of performance” into “type” and “level of
performance”
• Separating further the column “level of performance” into 3 sub-columns “intrinsic pa-
rameter”, “space” and “time”.
3. Relativity of the function performance
While the harmful type of a function is usually unambiguous, a useful function’s performance
might be equivocal, because of its relativity: it depends on the project’s goals and/or require-
ments which are often arbitrary defined. As a matter of fact, project’s goals and requirements
often suffer from the psychological inertia of the TRIZ practitioner, team, not forgetting the
customer, if any.
Although there is an objective method for determining excessive or insufficient performance of
a function [4], this method has only been used in conventional functional analysis and has never
been used in AFA, not speaking about its application to the SPTFI described above.
However, even if this method [4] was used in AFA instead of functional analysis, it would still
be possible to miss some functional flaws, and thus some innovative opportunities.
Therefore, there is a clear need for a method that will help you not miss some functional flaws.
4. Mental modification of the SPTFI
As a general tool, we propose the mental modification of the SPTFI as follows:
1. Compress the STPFI in time and check whether any advantage appears (relative to one
or more already known MPVs or hidden MPVs).
2. Expand the STPFI in time and check whether any advantage appears.
3. Compress the STPFI in space and check whether any advantage appears. This mental
spatial compression of the STPFI can be performed in any direction of space.
4. Expand the STPFI in space and check whether any advantage appears.
5. Decrease one intrinsic parameter of the function performance other than space and time
(note that from a geometrical point of view, this is a compression of the STPFI along a
parameter) and investigate what happens to the STPFI and the object of the function.
Resolve any conflicts that could potentially arise during this operation and check
whether any advantage appears.
6. Increase one intrinsic parameter of the function performance other than space and time
and investigate what happens to the STPFI and the object of the function. Resolve any
conflicts that could potentially arise during this operation and check whether any ad-
vantage appears.
7. Perform the last two operations for all other intrinsic parameters of the function, if any.
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All these mental operations can be performed either for some specific STPFI time slots and/or
for some specific STPFI locations, or for all STPFI time slots and locations.
As can be seen from the above list, all the suggested mental operations are performed inde-
pendently on the carrier of the function (as if the carrier did not exist) but dependently on the
recipient of the function (which usually cannot be changed).
The proposed mental operations on the STPFI are of the same nature as the Size-Time-Cost
(STC) operator that is widely used in TRIZ to reduce psychological inertia [5]. Therefore, the
seven-step procedure described above could be called the Space-Time-Parameter operator or
STP operator.
When the STP operator reveals any advantages for some MPVs (already known or hidden), it
simultaneously identifies one of the following functional disadvantages that must be addressed
to achieve those advantages:
• Excessive or insufficient performance of the function in time (to be detailed), or
• Excessive or insufficient performance of the function in space (to be detailed), or
• Excessive or insufficient performance of the function against some of its intrinsic pa-
rameter(s) (to be detailed).
The STP operator complements the AFA by reducing the potential omission of some functional
disadvantages and related opportunities for innovation.
This new approach is illustrated by the case studies described below.
5. Retrospective and prospective case study: a car sun visor
A usual automotive sun visor is useful during sunrises and sunsets or more generally when the
sun is close to the horizon, and it allows a safe driving under these specific conditions. However,
it is not very convenient for the driver who has a limited view of the front environment of the
car. Let us consider an innovation project focused on the radical innovation of a conventional
car sun visor, with the following MPV: vision quality. In modern TRIZ terms, the usual opaque
car sun visor fulfils the following function: sun visor stops sunlight. It helps eliminating the
potential, harmful function: sunlight glares driver’s eyes. Let us now consider the STPFI of the
former, useful function: in general, in space-time, it matches the external surface of the car sun
visor. Let us apply the STP operator before, during and after a conventional sun visor is de-
ployed by the driver.
1. The STPFI is mentally eliminated at all time intervals when the driver’s eyes are not
glared by sunlight for a reason or another (a momentaneous cloud or vehicle which
intersects sunlight, or the end of glaring conditions, for instance). As a result, the per-
formance of the MPV “vision quality” is improved.
2. To the current STPFI are mentally added all time intervals when the driver’s eyes are
glared by the sunlight and the sun visor is not yet deployed or not deployed completely.
Therefore, the MPV performance is improved.
3. The STPFI is mentally shrunk to a much smaller surface, which geometrically intersects
the path of the sunrays towards the driver’s eyes’ pupils (see Fig. 3). As the relative
positions of the driver, of the car and of the sun evolve over time, the shrunk STPFI
moves. Furthermore, as a pupil’s diameter is variable against lighting conditions, the
shrunk STFI shrinks and grows accordingly, although slightly. Therefore, the MPV per-
formance is improved.
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4. Expanding the STPFI in any direction either does not modify or deteriorates the MPV
performance.
5. The performance of the sun visor’s useful function can be simply measured by the sun
visor’s following parameter: absorbance (defined as light is stopped divided by incident
light). In the current situation, the absorbance is 1. The absorbance is mentally decreased
to a value a(t) which varies over time between 0 and 1 and adapts to a minimum de-
pending on the lighting conditions. Consequently, the MPV performance is improved.
6. Increasing the absorbance is not possible, for it is already 1.
7. No other parameter evaluating the useful function performance has been found.
Consequently, several function disadvantages of the conventional sun visor are revealed, along
with corresponding conceptual directions or ideas (not solutions, obviously).
Figure 3: The initial STPFI (above, in red) which matches the external surface of the car sun
visor is mentally dramatically shrunk into a new STPFI of minimal area (below, in red) that
relates to the driver’s eyes’ pupils (on the left) which possess variable diameters
A suboptimized concretization of the conceptual direction elaborated at step 5 is a translucent
shield that which has the same properties as sunglasses [6]. Also, Bosch materialized the con-
ceptual direction elaborated at step 3 by presenting a prototype of smart visor at CES 2020 [7]
(see Fig. 4). It is mainly based on a “AI-enhanced LCD screen that links with a driver-monitor-
ing camera”. Noteworthy, it can be concluded from the broad shadow on the driver’s face of
Fig. 4 that this prototype involves a STPFI which is far from the STPFI of minimal area of Fig.
3. Also, the grid of the hexagonal LCD cells and the visor frame constitute a part of the STPFI
which is clearly superfluous.
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Figure 4: Bosch smart visor prototype [7]
To innovate more radically, it is possible to start from the STPFI of minimal area shown in Fig.
3, without any component that carries it for the moment. Constraining ourselves to avoid the
use of any car sun visor, one may then project this STFI along the sunrays on a component of
the supersystem: the windshield. It immediately appears the new idea of a windshield display-
ing moving pairs of small varying diameter black spots, each pair being linked to the driver and
possible passengers. It is believed that this idea can be concretized with the identification and
adaptation of some well-identified technologies from the current Technosphere. Interestingly
this idea can be transferred to analogous situations like civil or military aircraft windshields,
motorbike or F1 helmets, sunglasses, etc.
6. Retrospective case study: car blade wipers
Nowadays, when driving a car under a strong continuous rain or under a short-time shower, the
driver’s vision quality becomes mediocre, even if the water on the windshield is evacuated by
the blade wipers at full sweeping speed (typical frequency: 1 Hz to 1,5 Hz) (see Fig. 11). Let
us then consider an innovation project whose goal is to generate radically innovative solutions
allowing a clear vision of the driver under a strong shower (the aimed MPV).
A usual Function Analysis easily determines among many functions at stake in a usual driving
situation under a strong shower:
• A harmful function: water deviates light (remark: here, we consider as a component
water that has deposited onto the external surface of the windshield).
• A useful function: wiper displaces water.
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Figure 5: Typical view of the driver of a car in a heavy rain when blade wipers are at full
speed [8]
At a given time, the STPFI of the useful function is limited to a thin surface of contact between
the advancing side of the wiper blades and water. On the other side, the harmful function man-
ifests on a major part of the external windshield surface. Let us apply the STP operator.
1. The shrinking of the STPFI in time brings no improvement of the MPV performance.
2. The expansion of the STPFI in time brings no improvement of the MPV performance,
if there is an automatic detection of rain.
3. The shrinking of the STPFI in space brings no improvement of the MPV performance.
4. The expansion of the STPFI in space is done by adding to it the full external surface of
the windshield, and possibly all other glass windows of the car. This brings a dramatic
improvement of the MPV (clear vision of the driver) performance.
5. The performance of the useful function can be measured by the sweeping frequency. Its
increase might bring some improvement of the MPV performance, although probably
less dramatically than with step 4.
6. The decrease in sweeping speed brings no MPV performance improvement.
7. No other parameter evaluating the useful function performance has been found.
Consequently, some function disadvantages of the conventional car blade wipers are revealed,
along with corresponding conceptual directions.
The conceptual direction revealed in step 4, which corresponds to a huge insufficiency in space
of the useful function, can be interpreted as the idea of an automotive windshield where the
water is displaced (expelled) from it all over its external surface at any time. An immediate
complementary idea is a windshield that does not interact at all with the rain drops, through a
prevention system still to be invented. This last conceptual direction can be linked to a mental
displacement of the STPFI at a distance and ahead from the windshield. Actually, the idea of a
wiperless windshield is not new, and a valuable, technical article [9] reviews its different pa-
tented solutions, starting with the first patent, US 3171683 A, filed in 1963 (see Fig. 6 below).
Several functioning principles have been developed in patents (travelling waves, air or liquid
jets coupled with specific surface treatment, water vaporization modes, …). In 2013 in the Sun-
day Times Mc Laren disclosed publicly its intention to introduce commercially on one of its
car models a wiperless windshield based on “ultrasonic force fields”. It also spoke about a mil-
itary source for the technology [9]. However, ten years later, no commercial Mc Laren model
seems to be equipped with such a technology [10]. Finally, this retrospective case shows how
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a mental modification of the STPFI of the useful function of an engineering system can lead to
a radically new, general conceptual direction, which on turn can trigger much research work in
different, more specific, conceptual directions. Also, interestingly, it shows that 60 years after
the first engineering concept of wiperless windshield in the car industry, a wiperless windshield
technology, whatever its functioning principle, is still stuck in its stage 1 of evolution along its
S-curve. It means that some difficult technological problems are still preventing this S-curve
jump. Obviously, TRIZ could be used to tackle these remaining challenges.
Figure 6: Wiperless windshield patent US 3171683 A, based on a high frequency oscillator
which drives ultrasonic transducers, which on their turn generate stationary waves on the
windshield, preventing raindrops to stick on it [9]
7. Retrospective and prospective case study: a tennis ball box overcap
Let us consider a usual tennis ball box (see Fig. 7) that always contains 4 tennis balls. At first
opening, the plastic overcap (in blue, on the right of Fig. 7) is taken away, then the metal cap
underneath is taken away and put in a recycling bin. Later the balls are put back in the box and
the plastic overcap is put back on the box in its initial position (in non-modern TRIZ, usual
words, “the overcap closes the box”). Then, depending on the relative positions of the box and
the balls, the overcap can fulfill its most important function: overcap stops ball. The intrinsic
parameter of the tennis ball that is maintained is its position along the box cylindrical axis.
Figure 7: Usual tennis ball box [10]
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Let us imagine an innovation project aimed at developing an innovative overcap with reduced
environmental impact (this will be our MPV in this project). Before applying the STP operator,
let us observe the initial STPFI of the function “overcap stops ball”: it is close to a small disk,
due to the elasticity of the ball and its fibrous external surface. In Fig.8 below, a cut of the ball
box (in black), the plastic overcap (in blue) and the 4th tennis ball is shown (in yellow), as well
as the STPFI (in red).
Figure 8: Schematic view of the box, the extremity tennis ball, the overcap and the STPFI (in
red) of the function “overcap stops ball”
Now let us apply the STP operator:
1. The mental shrinking of the STPFI in time does not lead to any MPV performance im-
provement.
2. There is some free space for the balls along the box axis, therefore the 4th ball is not
permanently in contact with the overcap. In this refined context, the mental expansion
of the STPFI in time also implies a space deformation of the overcap towards the 4th
ball, so that the useful function is always fulfilled. Consequently, more material is used
and the MPV performance decreases. Noteworthy this implication is a must because the
box itself is out of the scope of the project. If the box was within the project scope, it
could be shortened, and the MPV performance could be enhanced, however, not in re-
lationship with the overcap.
3. The STPFI is already a surface of small size. It is not obvious which kind of STPFI
mental shrinking might lead to the enhancement of the MPV performance.
4. Let us mentally expand the STPFI, for instance like in Fig. 9 below: the STPFI compul-
sorily expands along the tennis ball. Consequently, the overcap should spouse the ball
along this new STPFI. This obviously leads to an expansion of the overcap which de-
creases the MPV performance. As an alternative scenario, if the box was in the scope of
the project, it might be possible to envisage a deformation of the 4th ball against the
overcap to concretize another way to mentally expand the STPFI. The box should be
shortened, and to support the pressure exerted by the balls onto the overcap, the latter
should probably be stiffened, and therefore its thickness should be increased, leading to
a decreasing of the MPV performance.
5. Seemingly the only parameter that measures the useful function performance is the 4th
tennis ball position (more precisely, of its gravity center, if it is not deformed) along the
box cylindrical axis. Now let us expand mentally the STPFI in this parameter’s space,
i.e. let us increase the position of the 4th ball (towards the right direction) to some extent.
This results in an impossible situation where the tennis ball partly occupies the same
space as the overcap (see Fig. 10 below). As the tennis ball is out of the scope of the
innovation project, there seem to be only two possible solutions to this contradiction of
spatial character, which concerns also the STPFI. Either the overcap is locally “de-
formed” by the tennis ball (see Fig. 11), which leads to a similar STPFI as in step 4 that
is just displaced on the right, and as a result, the MPV performance decreases; or the
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overcap is “cropped” by the tennis ball and becomes annular and the STPFI as well. The
function “overcap stops ball” is still performed correctly, and the MPV performance
increases. In this case, the revealed function disadvantage (excessive function perfor-
mance) is immediately translated into a solution.
6. If we mentally shrink the STPFI in the parameter’s space, in other words if the position
of the 4th ball decreases, it goes towards a situation analogous to that described in step
2.
Figure 9: Schematic view of the box, the extremity tennis ball, the overcap and the mental ex-
pansion of the STPFI in space (in red)
Figure 10: Schematic view of the box, the extremity tennis ball, the overcap and the STPFI,
when one mentally increases the position of the ball, leading to a spatial conflict
Consequently, some function disadvantages of the current tennis box overcap are revealed,
along with corresponding conceptual directions, of diverse potential interests. Interestingly, in
the present, particular case, the second situation of step 6 exactly matches a concretized solution
that the Wilson company developed and called the Eco Overcap [12] (see Fig. 7) which cuts
the plastic use by 50%, and that was unveiled at the 2020 US Open [13]. This corresponds to a
partial Trimming of the component “overcap”. Also, this solution is very simple and could have
been developed decades ago: the sole psychological inertia carried out by the tennis ball box
and its overcap is responsible for this long development pause.
Figure 11: Schematic view of the situation depicted in Fig. 10 whose spatial contradiction is
solved by the deformation of the overcap induced by the ball translation towards the right
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Figure 12: Eco Overcap of tennis ball box developed by Wilson [11]
Based on that solution developed by Wilson, one may perform mental modifications further
and mentally shrink the STPFI in space between the ball and the Eco Overcap (i.e. apply step
3 of the STP operator). As said before, its STPFI is annular and is rather linear. The shrinking
of the STPFI into two small segments instead of an annular line is advantageous: the MPV
performance increases. Thus, the function disadvantage “excessive function performance” is
determined again. A concretization is shown on Fig. 13 below.
Figure 13: Shrinking of the initially annular STPFI of the Eco Overcap (left) into a smaller
STPFI made of two segments (right), concretized by the overcap cutting along the blue dotted
lines
However, because of a lack of stiffness of the strips, is some specific circumstances, the overcap
may not stop the ball: the function is no more reliable. This draws a contradiction between the
overcap weight and its function reliability which might be solved easily by satisfaction through
the local reinforcement of the strips, possibly by a change of dimension: thus, the two strips
become perpendicular to the global plane of the overcap (that of the blue dotted lines) and the
STPFI is further reduced: it becomes almost punctual, at two points.
8. Conclusions
A new TRIZ tool, the Space-Time-Parameter operator, has been introduced to improve the Ad-
vanced Function Approach proposed in 2010 [3].
First, the Space-Time-Parameter Function Interface (STPFI) of a given useful function is de-
fined as the set of the geometrical intersections between the function carrier and the function
recipient in space and time, and the associated set of numerical values of the function perfor-
mance parameter. Thus, the STPFI provides a very detailed representation of operating zone
and time of each function, as well as their space- and time-dependent performance parameter
values.
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Second, the STP operator is introduced. This operator involves mental operations (like the STC
operator [5]) of shrinking or expansion of the STPFI in space, in time and along function per-
formance parameters, and evaluating the consequences of these operations for the function re-
cipient.
Third, it is suggested to evaluate if these mental operations provide an advantage for some
MPVs (already known or hidden) of the system of interest. If such an advantage is revealed, it
allows to define corresponding function flaws that must be eliminated to achieve the advantage.
These flaws could be excessive or insufficient function performance in certain space and/or in
certain time slot, or insufficient or excessive performance of the function with respect to some
of its intrinsic parameter.
Consequently, the STP operator allows the identification of innovation opportunities which
might have been overlooked with the usual Function Analysis and even with the Advanced
Function Approach.
Finally, as a perspective, this newly developed tool may open a new field of research in TRIZ.
In particular, a robust set of rules for its utilization shall be developed, including the interplay
of STPFI, function recipient and function carrier; expectedly those rules shall depend on the
project goals (e.g. sustainable and/or radical innovation), the project scope (the components that
might be modified, including the function recipient) and the extensive or intensive nature of the
MPVs. In addition, its extension to harmful functions might be developed. Also, new steps
proposing other mental operations on STPFI might be added; one such possible step could be
the spatial translation of the STPFI and possibly its projection onto other components which
seems to match a specific Trimming mode. Last, this tool may benefit from its “areas of inter-
section” with other TRIZ tools, like for instance the Trends of Engineering Systems Evolution,
and the Su-Field Analysis / 76 Standard Solutions.
Acknowledgements
The main author expresses deep gratitude to his father, Jacques Savelli, MD, for his enthusiastic
and unwavering support throughout his TRIZ journey.
References
1. GEN-TRIZ training materials (level 1 of MATRIZ Official).
2. Abramov O., Medvedev A., Tomashevskaya N. “Main Parameters of Value (MPV) Analysis:
Where MPV Candidates Come From”. In: Borgianni, Y., Brad, S., Cavallucci, D., Livotov, P.
(Eds.): Creative Solutions for a Sustainable Development. TFC 2021. IFIP Advances in
Information and Communication Technology, vol 635, pp. 391-400. Springer, Cham, 2021.
3. Litvin S., Feygenson N., and Feygenson O. “Advanced Function Approach”. Proceedings of
the 10th ETRIA World TRIZ Future Conference 2010, 3-5 November, Bergamo, Italy. pp. 79-
85.
4. Abramov O. "Excesses in Engineering Systems: A Helpful Resource". In: Cavallucci, D.,
Brad, S., Livotov, P. (eds) Systematic Complex Problem Solving in the Age of Digitalization
and Open Innovation. TFC 2020. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication
Technology, vol 597, pp. 159-171. Springer, Cham, 2020.
5. Souchkov V. “Glossary of TRIZ and TRIZ-related Terms”. Version 1.2, MATRIZ, 2018.
https://matriz.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/TRIZGlossaryVersion1_2.pdf. Last accessed:
June 26, 2023.
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6. https://www.fruugo.be/car-sun-visor/p-146762510-309431517?language=en. Last accessed:
June 26, 2023.
7. https://spectrum.ieee.org/boschs-smart-virtual-visor-tracks-sun. Last accessed: June 26, 2023.
8. https://taylorautoglass.com/windshield-wipers-just-smear-rain/. Last accessed: June 27, 2023.
9. https://newatlas.com/mclaren-ultrasonic-windshield-wiper-washer/30205/. Last accessed: June
28, 2023.
10. https://cars.mclaren.com/en/models. Last accessed: June 28, 2023.
11. https://www.amazon.com/Babolat-Championship-Court-Tennis-
Balls/dp/B08169K6M1/ref=sr_1_3?crid=9YDKPLEI1J52&keywords=tennis+balls+babolat&
qid=1687703528&sprefix=tennis+balls+babolat%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-3. Last accessed: June
26, 2023.
12. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/product/championship-regular-duty-3-ball-can-t100300. Last
accessed: June 26, 2023.
13. https://twitter.com/WilsonTennis/status/1346545449034002434. Last accessed: June 26, 2023.
Communicating Author: Stéphane Savelli, stephane.savelli@gmail.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
LEVERAGING GENERATIVE AI AS A
RESOURCE FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL IN
TRIZ PROBLEM SOLVING AND IDEA
GENERATION
Tanasak Pheunghua
The Inventor Development Co., Ltd., Thailand
Abstract
In the process of problem-solving and generating new ideas using TRIZ tools, one essential tool for
thinkers is the problem solver, referred to as a "resource."
In practice, resources can be classified as follows:
1. Individual resources: These encompass personal memories, background knowledge gained
through education or work experience, specialized skills, ideas generated during brainstorming
sessions, and other relevant insights.
2. Observational resources: These are derived from analyzing legacy systems with a focus on im-
provement. They include resources found in the environment, resources obtained through ana-
lyzing customer needs, resources available in systems that fulfill certain functions (supersys-
tems), and TRIZ terminology that guides the analysis of resources in terms of matter, energy,
time, space, and their derivatives.
3. Research-based resources: This category includes scientific foundations used to describe the
problem, relevant patents, scientific papers, expert interviews, well-developed technological
systems that can be utilized as part of the resource pool, technologies related to the key problems
at hand, and models and methods used in the same or different industries. Function Oriented
Search (FOS) can be employed, along with listening to customer questions or needs, to obtain
these resources.
These resources are gathered based on the capabilities of resource seekers, and there is a designated
timeframe for the collection process. Individuals generating new ideas can directly utilize these re-
sources. However, if the resources, including individual resources, analytical resources, or search re-
sources, cannot directly solve the problem, they can be further developed or modified to align with the
parameters of the inventive problem, which often focuses on resolving conflicts.
When utilizing resources obtained through research, it may be necessary to consult subject matter ex-
perts, search for new patent information, and use search engines on the internet. This process can be
challenging and time-consuming.
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Today, there are advanced tools available that surpass traditional information searches, such as Gener-
ative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Bing, Bard). Generative AI learns from data and produces results based on
given commands, following the boundaries set as "prompts."
The use of Generative AI significantly reduces search time and expands search coverage. It can be ap-
plied to various research areas, including identifying the root causes of problems, studying the evolution
of technological systems, examining past solutions, exploring data from different industries with FOS
expertise, and instructing the AI to learn and respond to tools like the TESE 40 Principles and other
TRIZ tools.
However, since Generative AI primarily relies on past data, the results are dependent on the instructions
given (prompts), which may lead to discrepancies due to a lack of understanding of certain logic.
Therefore, it is recommended to verify the accuracy of the results and consider Generative AI as an aid
in collecting informational resources rather than relying solely on it to find the final answer.
Keywords: TRIZ tools, Problem-solving, Individual resources, Observational resources, Research-
based resources, Inventive problem, Generative AI, Informational resources.
Abbreviation:
TRIZ: Theory of Inventive Problem Solving
AI: Artificial Intelligence
GPT: Generative Pre-trained Transformer
FOS: Function Oriented Search
TESE: Technical and Engineering Systems Evolution
1. Introduction
Problem-solving and idea generation are essential processes in various fields, and thinkers rely
on a range of tools to facilitate these endeavors. One crucial tool for thinkers is the problem
solver, often referred to as a "resource." These resources play a vital role in helping individuals
overcome challenges and generate innovative ideas. Understanding the different types of re-
sources available and their significance is key to effectively harnessing their potential.
Informational Resources:
In practice, resources can be classified into three main categories. The first category is individ-
ual resources, which encompass personal memories, background knowledge acquired through
education or work experience, specialized skills, ideas generated during brainstorming sessions,
and other relevant insights. These resources are unique to each individual and serve as a foun-
dation for problem-solving and idea generation.
The second category is observational resources, derived from analyzing legacy systems with a
focus on improvement. Observational resources include various elements found in the environ-
ment, insights gained from analyzing customer needs, resources available in systems that fulfill
specific functions (referred to as supersystems), and TRIZ terminology that guides the analysis
of resources in terms of matter, energy, time, space, and their derivatives. Observational re-
sources provide valuable insights into existing systems, allowing thinkers to identify areas for
enhancement and innovation.
The third category of resources is research-based resources, which encompass a wide range of
information sources. This category includes scientific foundations used to describe the problem,
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
224
relevant patents, scientific papers, expert interviews, well-developed technological systems that
can be utilized as part of the resource pool, technologies related to the key problems at hand,
and models and methods used in the same or different industries. Obtaining research-based
resources often involves employing techniques like Function Oriented Search (FOS), listening
to customer questions or needs, consulting subject matter experts, searching for new patent
information, and utilizing internet search engines. These resources provide a broader perspec-
tive and facilitate cross-industry insights, enabling thinkers to explore diverse avenues for prob-
lem-solving.
Modification of Resources:
While individuals generating new ideas can directly utilize the resources mentioned above,
there are instances where these resources, including individual resources, analytical resources,
or search resources, may not directly solve the problem at hand. In such cases, it becomes nec-
essary to modify or further develop these resources to align them with the parameters of the
inventive problem, which often revolves around resolving conflicts. This process involves
adapting and tailoring resources to better address the specific challenges being faced.
Statement of the Problem:
Despite the availability of various resources, there are challenges associated with their effective
utilization. Resource gathering relies on the capabilities of the individuals’ seeking solutions,
and there is a designated timeframe within which resources must be collected. Additionally, the
process of obtaining resources through research can be challenging and time-consuming, often
requiring consultation with subject matter experts, searching for new patent information, and
utilizing internet search engines. These traditional methods, while valuable, may limit the
breadth and efficiency of resource collection.
To address these challenges, advanced tools such as Generative AI have emerged, surpassing
traditional information searches. Generative AI, exemplified by platforms like ChatGPT, Bing,
and Bard, learns from data and produces results based on given commands within defined
boundaries referred to as "prompts." The use of Generative AI significantly reduces search time
and expands search coverage, offering its application across various research areas. It can aid
in identifying the root causes of problems, studying the evolution of technological systems,
examining past solutions, exploring data from different industries using FOS expertise, and
instructing the AI to learn and respond to specific problem-solving tools such as the TESE 40
Principles and other TRIZ tools.
However, it is important to recognize that Generative AI's reliance on past data makes the re-
sults contingent on the instructions given (prompts). Misunderstanding or incomplete instruc-
tion may lead to discrepancies in the outcomes, highlighting the need to verify the accuracy of
the results generated by Generative AI. Consequently, while Generative AI offers significant
advantages.
2. Approach
1. Introduction to Performing TRIZ Tools by Generative AI: In this paper, we present an ap-
proach to leverage generative AI for performing TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solv-
ing) tools. TRIZ offers a systematic framework for problem-solving and innovation, and by
combining it with generative AI, we aim to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the
problem-solving process. Generative AI models can be trained to understand TRIZ concepts
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
225
and apply them in generating creative solutions. This approach has the potential to acceler-
ate innovation and provide novel insights in various domains.
2. Definition of Prompt Designer or Prompt Engineering: Prompt engineering refers to the
process of designing prompts that guide generative AI models in applying TRIZ tools ef-
fectively. The prompt designer plays a crucial role in crafting prompts that elicit desired
responses from the AI model. They possess a deep understanding of TRIZ principles and
techniques, as well as domain knowledge, enabling them to create prompts that facilitate
innovative solution generation.
3. Definition of "Context" and "Instruct":
• Context : Context to prompt refers to the relevant information provided to the gen-
erative AI model in order to set the problem-solving context. It includes the problem
statement, domain-specific constraints, objectives, and any other contextual infor-
mation necessary for the AI model to understand the problem space. Providing ap-
propriate context helps the model generate solutions that align with the problem do-
main.
• Instruct: Prompt instruct involves providing specific instructions to guide the gen-
erative AI model's thinking process. These instructions can take various forms, such
as guiding questions, constraints, or prompts that direct the model's attention to spe-
cific aspects of the problem. Clear and well-defined prompt instructions enable the
AI model to focus its generation process and generate relevant solutions.
4. List of Some Basic Prompt Engineering Techniques
Table 1. Basic Prompt Engineering Techniques
Prompt Engineering Technique
Description
Zero Shot
Prompting the AI model to generate solu-
tions without specific training examples.
Chain of Thought
Guiding the AI model to follow a sequence
of logical steps or associations to generate
solutions.
Tree of Through
Encouraging the AI model to explore multi-
ple branches of thinking and generate di-
verse solutions.
5. The uses of Generative AI in this paper cover the following TRIZ tools:
1. Beyond Function Analysis (System Oriented Synthesis; Petrov V.)
2. Function Analysis
• Component Analysis
• Interaction Analysis
3. Function Oriented Search (FOS)
4. Cause Effect Chain Analysis
5. TRIMMING and TRIMMING Rules
6. Feature Transfer
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7. 40 Principles
8. Scientific Effect Database
9. Extension FOS
• Problem Search
• Property Search
• Parameter Search
• Mechanism Search
• Disadvantage Search
10. Trend of Engineering System Evolution
3. Example: Application of Generative AI and TRIZ Tools.
3.1 Beyond Function Analysis (System Oriented Synthesis; Petrov V.)
User Prompt:
Please explore the 5 solutions of technical system which able to perform "To capture and
to move dust by airflow"
ChatGPT:
Table 2. Function Analysis with ChatGPT
Solution
Description
1. Air Filtration System
Utilizes high-efficiency filters to capture dust particles from
the air and moves the filtered air.
2. Dust Collection
System
Combines suction and airflow to collect dust from various
sources and transports it to a collection point.
3. Electrostatic
Precipitator
Attracts and collects dust particles from the airflow using an
electrostatic charge.
4. Vacuum Cleaner
System
Draws in dust particles through suction and transports them
into a collection bag or container.
5. Pneumatic Conveying
System
Transports dust particles through pipes or ducts using com-
pressed air or an air stream.
3.2 Function Analysis: Component Analysis and Interaction Analysis
User Prompt:
Please write the function analysis ; ("Tool" action to "Object") for Wood pelleting Machine;
in tabulated format including of "Tool" , "object", "Type of energies" , "The action between
tool and object" and "Function of tool and object".
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ChatGPT:
Table 3. Component Analysis and Interaction Analysis with ChatGPT
Tool
Object
Type of
Energies
Action between
Tool and Object
Function of Tool
and Object
Cutting
Blades
Wood Logs
Mechanical
Energy
Blades cut the
wood logs into
smaller pieces or
chips.
The cutting blades
chop the wood logs
into smaller sizes,
facilitating the
pelletization pro-
cess.
Hammer
Mill
Wood Chips
Impact and
Mechanical
Energy
Hammer mill pul-
verizes the wood
chips into finer
particles.
The hammer mill
crushes the wood
chips, reducing
their size for further
processing into
wood pellets.
Pellet Mill
Wood
Particles
Mechanical
and Thermal
Energy
Pellet mill com-
presses the wood
particles and ap-
plies heat to form
wood pellets.
The pellet mill com-
pacts the wood
particles, applying
heat to bind them
together, producing
wood pellets.
3.3 FOS
User Prompt:
Could you please find the 4 industries which perform similar main-useful functions of pellet
mills? Consist of Main Function, Technology leading in tabulated format.
ChatGPT:
Table 4 Component Analysis and Interaction Analysis with ChatGPT
Industry
Main Function
Leading Technology
Biomass Power
Generation
Converts biomass materials
into pellets for energy produc-
tion.
Biomass pellet mills utilizing
high-pressure and high-tem-
perature processes.
Animal Feed
Manufacturing
Processes raw materials into
pellets for animal nutrition and
feed supply.
Feed pellet mills equipped
with precision grinding and
mixing technologies.
Aquaculture
Produces pellets as special-
ized feed for aquatic organ-
isms.
Aqua pellet mills with extru-
sion and steam cooking
methods for pelletization.
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Industry
Main Function
Leading Technology
Wood and Biomass
Pelletizing
Converts wood and biomass
materials into dense pellets for
fuel or heating.
Wood pellet mills employing
compression and heat treat-
ment techniques.
3.4 Cause Effect Chain Analysis
User Prompt:
CECA is Cause and Effect Chain Analysis. This tool is very close to Why-Why Analysis.
CECA can find root causes and deeper root causes until finding key disadvantages.
CECA can find the key disadvantages at specific parameters and their value (maximum or
minimum).
What's different from Why-Why is; CECA may identify the key disadvantages (possible
root causes) which have a specific value that causes the first problem but when trying to
change that value oppositely, the first problem is gone but may create a new problem. We
call this situation a "Contradiction".
Let's try to create the CECA of the problem "Uncomfortable breathing Mask"; consisting
of multiple columns of the potential root causes at the specific parameters level of the re-
lated system components.
Identify key disadvantages, and if possible, identify the contradiction at each specific pa-
rameter at maximum or minimum value. Display in tabulate format. Finally add a column
for the "Key problem"; Key problem is the problem statement in term of "How to adjust the
parameters of each root causes to eliminate the first problem without creating the new prob-
lem?".
ChatGPT:
Table 5. Cause Effect Chain Analysis with ChatGPT
Root Cause
Parameter
Value
Contradiction
Key Problem
Poor Fit
Mask Size
Incorrectly
Sized
When resizing
the mask to be
smaller, it may
cause tight-
ness.
How to adjust
the mask size
to eliminate
discomfort
without caus-
ing tightness?
Mask Material
Non-
Breathable
Material
Using a more
breathable ma-
terial may com-
promise filtra-
tion.
How to select a
mask material
that balances
breathability
and filtration
efficiency?
Improper Strap
Design
Strap Tension
Too Tight
Loosening the
straps may
cause the mask
How to adjust
strap tension to
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to slip or lose
fit.
provide a com-
fortable fit with-
out compromis-
ing mask sta-
bility?
Inadequate
Ventilation
Ventilation
Design
Insufficient
Ventilation
Increasing ven-
tilation may de-
crease filtration
effectiveness.
How to opti-
mize the
mask's ventila-
tion design to
provide suffi-
cient airflow
without com-
promising filtra-
tion?
3.5 TRIMMING and TRIMMING Rules
User Prompt:
There are 4 Major components of Hot coffee: Hot coffee, Sugar, Cup, Spoon. Please analyze
the function of each component. The main function of Spoon is typically used to stir the
coffee. If I try to take off “Spoon”, and I expect you as inventor to invent following. The
cup that able to perform function as spoon. The sugar that able to perform function as spoon.
Please explain How to do those?
Google Bard:
Cup with built-in stirrer: The stirrer could be attached to the side of the cup with a magnet.
The stirrer could be made of plastic or metal.
Sugar cubes shaped like spoons: The sugar cubes could be made of a material that is easy
to dissolve in coffee, such as sugar or artificial sweetener. The sugar cubes could be shaped
like spoons using a mold.
3.6 Feature Transfer
User Prompt:
I would like to create new formula of coffee; I need you to help for bring some feature of
beer to coffee and explain the result.
MS Bing:
Coffee beer is a combination of beer and coffee, a specialty type of brew that changes the
flavor of both ingredients. By adding coffee to a stout or beer, it completely changes the
flavor profile of the drink and adds a little caffeine to the brew1. The most traditional beer
styles that go well with coffee are porters and stouts2.
If you want to create a new formula of coffee with some features of beer, you can try adding
some roasted malt or barley to your coffee. This will give your coffee a slightly bitter taste
and a hint of nuttiness. You can also try adding some hops to your coffee. Hops are what
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give beer its bitterness, so adding them to your coffee will give it a slightly bitter taste as
well2.
3.7 40 Principles
User Prompt:
Do you know 40 principles of TRIZ? /
If I ask you to select a principle which able to modify "coffee" and get the result like "func-
tion of spoon", which principles above you might be select?
Google Bard:
Table 6. 40 Principles with Bard
Principle
Bard selection
Universality
Principle 17: Partial or excessive actions. This principle states that a
problem can be solved by either partially or excessively performing an
action. In the case of coffee, we could partially or excessively perform
the action of stirring. For example, we could stir the coffee very slowly,
which would allow the coffee to cool down more gradually. Or, we could
stir the coffee very quickly, which would create a more frothy and flavor-
ful cup of coffee. This would allow us to use the same object (coffee) for
multiple purposes (cooling down coffee and creating a frothy cup of cof-
fee).
Copying
Principle 21: Another dimension. This principle states that a problem
can be solved by changing the dimension of an object or system. In the
case of coffee, we could change the dimension of the coffee by making
it into a frozen coffee drink. This would allow us to enjoy the flavor of
coffee without having to stir it.
3.8 Scientific Effect Database
User Prompt:
The physical Scientific effect name COANDA Effect can be able to perform the function
for "separate the particle and liquid". Please apply COANDA Effect to the general fan for
home-use in each component if possible? In tabulated format.
ChatGPT:
Table 7. Scientific Effect with ChatGPT
Component
Coanda Effect Application
Blades
The curved shape of the blades utilizes the Coanda effect to redirect
airflow. As air passes over the curved surface of the blades, it ad-
heres to the surface, causing the air to follow the curvature and
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Component
Coanda Effect Application
change direction. This redirection of airflow helps in separating par-
ticles and liquids suspended in the air.
Housing/Casing
The design of the housing/casing of the fan can incorporate curved
surfaces that leverage the Coanda effect. These curved surfaces aid
in directing the airflow and enhancing the separation of particles and
liquids from the air.
Ventilation Grille
By utilizing the Coanda effect, the design of the ventilation grille can
be optimized to guide the incoming airflow along specific paths. This
controlled airflow can aid in separating particles and liquids, prevent-
ing them from entering the fan's interior.
Airflow Diffuser
The Coanda effect can be employed in the design of the airflow dif-
fuser to control the direction and spread of the air exiting the fan. By
using curved surfaces, the diffuser can guide the airflow and en-
hance the separation of particles and liquids from the air.
Airflow
Concentrator
The Coanda effect can be utilized in an airflow concentrator attach-
ment for the fan. The attachment can be designed with curved sur-
faces to concentrate and control the airflow, thereby improving the
separation of particles and liquids.
3.9 Extension FOS:
User Prompt: Problem Oriented Search
In the wood pellet mill, we found a quality problem; a crack of the pellet. Could you please
find the 3 different industries which same or similar problems? Consist of the Problem, root
causes, Technology, or solution that is used to solve the problem. in tabulated format.
ChatGPT:
Table 8. Problem Oriented Search with ChatGPT
Industry
Problem
Root Causes
Technology/Solution
Animal Feed
Manufacturing
Cracks in
feed pellets
Inadequate moisture
content, excessive heat
during pelleting
Adjusting moisture levels,
optimizing conditioning and
pelleting parameters
Pharmaceutical
Manufacturing
Cracks in
tablet or pill
forms
Inconsistent compres-
sion forces, excessive
drying or moisture con-
tent
Optimizing tablet press set-
tings, implementing con-
trolled drying processes
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Industry
Problem
Root Causes
Technology/Solution
Ceramic Tile
Manufacturing
Cracks in
ceramic tiles
Inadequate drying or fir-
ing temperatures, une-
ven pressure distribution
Precise temperature control
during drying and firing, en-
suring uniform pressure ap-
plication
User Prompt: Mechanism Oriented Search
My problem-solving experience I would like to share with you; I once had a question about
feeding in a commercial fishpond that is raised to be used as food for humans. Good fish
farming (grow fast, get weight as needed, and loss during rearing) is required to provide
appropriate water management. no residual waste no water waste with good aeration. One
of the factors contributing to water pollution is fish feed. too much food or staying in the
water for too long will waste water if we put in too little food, the fish will grow slowly and
not reach the desired weight. While thinking about those methods, it was realized that there
was a similar "problem mechanism" that may be used to solve the problem, namely when a
man is hungry There will be a cry from the abdomen. At that time, it led to the question that
when fish are hungry. We can measure vocals or other different sounds. Caused by the
behavior of fish that are hungry or not. If measured, it will bring timely feeding. / Please
find a new "problem mechanism" in specific 5 technical systems and 3 natural systems that
are similar to what happens when a fish is hungry. in tabulated format.
ChatGPT:
Table 9. Mechanism Oriented Search with ChatGPT
Natural System
Problem
Mechanism
Effect/Indication
Potential Solution
Insect
Pheromone
Communication
Release of spe-
cific chemical sig-
nals by insects
Attraction or com-
munication be-
tween individuals
Monitoring pheromone
trails for insect behavior
analysis
Plant Stress
Response
Emission of vola-
tile organic com-
pounds (VOCs)
Indication of envi-
ronmental stress
or insect attacks
Analyzing VOC emis-
sions to identify plant
stressors and provide
appropriate care
Bee Waggle
Dance
Unique dance
patterns
Indicating food
source location
and distance
Observing and decoding
the waggle dance to lo-
cate food sources and
guide foraging behavior
User Prompt: Disadvantage Oriented Search
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For the root cause of "Inadequate moisture content": Could you please find the 3 industries
which face of same "root cause"? Consist of root causes, effect from that cause, Technology
or solution that is used to solve the problem. in tabulated format.
ChatGPT:
Table 10. Disadvantage Oriented Search with ChatGPT
Industry
Root Cause
Effect from
the Cause
Technology/Solution
Animal Feed
Manufacturing
Inadequate
moisture
content
Poor pellet durability,
reduced nutritional
value, increased dust-
iness
Adjusting steam condi-
tioning, implementing
moisture control sys-
tems
Paper
Manufacturing
Insufficient
moisture in pa-
per fibers
Brittle paper, reduced
strength and flexibility,
increased breakage
Implementing steam in-
jection systems, optimiz-
ing wet end operations
Brick and Tile
Manufacturing
Low moisture in
clay mix
Cracked bricks or
tiles, weak structural
integrity, difficulty in
molding
Adding water to the clay
mix, implementing con-
trolled moisture meas-
urement system
3.10 TESE Mono-Bi-Poly
User Prompt:
There are some devices had improved the efficiency by using hybrid such as Camera +
Infrared. Please generate possible poly-system of height measure technologies. in tabulated
format, with columns of 1. Main Function 2. heterogeneous functions and 3. Inverse Func-
tion.
Google Bard:
Table 11. TESE Mono-Bi-Poly with Bard
System
Main Function
Heterogeneous
Functions
Inverse Function
Camera +
LiDAR +
Stereo Vision
Creates a highly
accurate and de-
tailed 3D model of
the environment.
LiDAR provides depth
data, stereo vision
provides depth data,
and camera provides
high-resolution im-
ages.
Calculates the dis-
tance between the
camera and the object
in the scene.
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Camera + Li-
DAR + Struc-
ture from Mo-
tion (SfM)
Creates a highly
accurate and de-
tailed 3D model of
the environment.
LiDAR provides depth
data, SfM provides
motion data, and
camera provides
high-resolution im-
ages.
Calculates the posi-
tion of the camera in
the scene.
Radar +
Ultrasound +
Stereo Vision
Creates a highly
accurate and de-
tailed 3D model of
the environment.
Radar provides range
data, ultrasound pro-
vides depth data, and
stereo vision provides
depth data.
Calculates the dis-
tance between the ra-
dar, ultrasound, and
stereo vision sensors
and the object in the
scene.
Radar + Ultra-
sound + Struc-
ture from Mo-
tion (SfM)
Creates a highly
accurate and de-
tailed 3D model of
the environment.
Radar provides range
data, ultrasound pro-
vides depth data, and
SfM provides motion
data.
Calculates the posi-
tion of the radar, ultra-
sound, and SfM sen-
sors in the scene.
Camera + Li-
DAR + Radar +
Ultrasound +
Stereo Vision +
Structure from
Motion (SfM)
Creates the most
accurate and de-
tailed 3D model of
the environment
possible.
All of the above tech-
nologies are used.
Calculates the posi-
tion and distance of all
of the sensors in the
scene, as well as the
distance between the
sensors and the ob-
ject in the scene.
4. Discussion and Conclusion
Overall, we can conduct research on resource-oriented information to support the process
of generating new ideas with the assistance of Generative AI. The characteristics of utilizing
each resource are classified as follows:
• Analysis of resource information systems, such as Function Analysis and CECA.
• Researching different industrial technology systems in terms of resource information,
such as FOS.
• Application of resource information tools to aid in generating TRIZ ideas, such as the
40 Principles, Scientific Effect Database, and TESE.
It has been discovered that Generative AI technology can be used to help solve initially
identified problems, such as significantly reducing research time. In the past, obtaining data
from different industries was challenging.
Generative AI's ability to collect and summarize data has also led to the development of
branching tools based on the concept of Function Oriented Search. For example:
• Problem Oriented Search: enables us to search for similar problems in other industries.
• Key Disadvantages Oriented Search: assists in identifying the root cause of a problem
by examining similar or different problems from other industries.
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• Mechanism Oriented Search: helps us find mechanisms for similar problems encoun-
tered in other industries, regardless of their differences.
Previously, the problem solver might have had the newly adapted TRIZ instrument in mind
but lacked efficient data collection tools. Generative AI can assist in organizing the display
of data, contributing to the increase of information resources that can lead to a variety of
ideas.
However, it has been found that generative AI may have limited access to patent information.
It might not provide patent details, claims, patent mapping, or patent summaries like
ChatGPT 3.5. However, MS-Bing does offer patent summaries, while Google Bard has the
most extensive patent capabilities, providing partial information on patent details, claims,
patent mapping, and patent summaries (based on our testing).
Additionally, it has been observed that ChatGPT 3.5 uses pre-trained data until September
2021, which suggests that its completeness and up-to-dateness may be affected. It is im-
portant to stay up to date with the latest information.
During the testing, several issues were identified when providing command prompts:
• Lack of introductory information: Focusing solely on obtaining answers in the form of
questions for immediate responses (Zero Shot Prompt).
• Incomplete contextualization.
• It is not advisable to assume that the nature of the TRIZ tool is initially known by the
Generative AI, as it may affect the accuracy of the received answers.
In summary, using Generative AI with the TRIZ tool involves a step-by-step process, start-
ing from using the Problem Formulation tool and gradually moving towards defining the
Key Problem, searching for resources, and modifying them. This approach resembles ad-
vanced-level engineering prompts such as Chain of Thought and Tree of Thought.
From the results of utilizing Generative AI to find information resources, we have observed
a significant reduction in search time and the ability to access previously difficult-to-find
information.
However, due to the possibility of errors, both in the prompts and the generative AI model
itself, the author strongly recommends verifying the accuracy of the data before utilizing it.
References
3. https://learnprompting.org/docs/intro
4. https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/paths/118
5. https://platform.openai.com/docs/introduction
6. https://bard.google.com/
7. https://www.bing.com/
8. https://www.deeplearning.ai/short-courses/chatgpt-prompt-engineering-for-developers/
9. https://www.elementsofai.com/
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Communicating Author: Tanasak Pheunghua, consult@tanasak.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
DEMAND - TREND MATRIX: QUICK
ROADMAPPING FUTURE INNOVATIONS
Valeri Souchkov
ICG Training & Consulting, The Netherlands
Abstract
In general, there are two alternative strategic approaches being used today to innovatively im-
prove existing products/ technologies and generate ideas for new products and technologies:
market pull and technology push. The first approach is to use the results of market studies (voice
of the customer) to generate new ideas and concepts that would meet the identified customer
and market demands. However, the shortcoming of such approach is that new ideas are gener-
ated randomly and chaotically; or in case if classical tools of TRIZ are used, we obtain a number
of ideas which are not ordered accordingly the market demands or we can miss some important
evolution steps.
In modern TRIZ, the second approach (technology push) is implemented in form of “Evolu-
tionary Potential Assessment and Product/Technology Forecast” and involves the of resources
available within a selected product/technology for further evolution according to the TRIZ
Trends and Lines of Technology Evolution.
The most widespread use of this approach is to build an “Evolutionary Radar Plot” of a selected
product or its part and then further evolve the product along the undeveloped lines of evolution.
The shortcoming of this approach is that the results obtained do not correlate with market de-
mands and requirements and only use the inner potential of the existing product/technology.
Keywords: market requirements, TRIZ, Trends and Lines of Technology Evolution
1. Demand-Trend Matrix
A Demand-Trend Matrix (DTM) is a rather simple tool which brings together technology
push and market pull approaches. A principal idea behind DTM is to organize a new ideas
generation process in a systematic way by establishing mapping between market requirements
and demands (including revealed market trends) and the TRIZ Trends and Lines of Technology
Evolution (Fig. 1), also known as “Trends of Engineering Systems Evolution” under abbrevia-
tion TESE [1]. Each Trend includes one or more specific lines of evolution.
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Fig. 1: Example of the TRIZ Line of Evolution of increasing physical system dynamics
In DTM (Fig. 2), each customer requirement or market demand is identified with a specific
subsystem (part) of a system (product) which we want to improve, and then each TRIZ Line of
Evolution is applied to this part to see if a solution can be proposed on the basis of this TRIZ
Line that would meet the corresponding customer/market demand.
Thus, by evaluating opportunities in each cell of the matrix, the entire space of couples “cus-
tomer requirement/market demand vs. TRIZ line of technology evolution” is explored. After
completing DTM, each cell might include either a single idea, or several ideas, or remain empty
if no ideas were proposed.
Non-
segmented
object
System of two
segments
Object is
replaced by
a field producing
needed
functionality
System of two
segments with
flexible link
System of many
segments with
flexible links
Completely
flexible (elastic)
object
Non-
segmented
object
System of two
segments
Object is
replaced by
a field producing
needed
functionality
System of two
segments with
flexible link
System of many
segments with
flexible links
Completely
flexible (elastic)
object
Mobile phone
with a sliding part
which contains
a microphone
and protects keyboard.
Flip-flop phone
of two parts
with a hinge.
Phone as a wrist watch:
its bracelet is made of
segments, which might
contain different
electronic parts.
A flexible phone
(Nokia concept)
Traditional
mobile phone.
A projecting
phone?
Mobile phone
with a sliding part
which contains
a microphone
and protects keyboard.
Flip-flop phone
of two parts
with a hinge.
Phone as a wrist watch:
its bracelet is made of
segments, which might
contain different
electronic parts.
A flexible phone
(Nokia concept)
Traditional
mobile phone.
A projecting
phone?
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Fig. 2: Demand-Trend Matrix (DTM)
If there are one or more ideas in a cell, then the cell is marked with “+”. In case if there are no
ideas, or the trend is inapplicable, with “-”. This gives a possibility to assign a score to each
trend at the stage of evaluation, after the entire DTM Is completed. Finally, a total score against
each customer/market demand and TRIZ evolution trend can be calculated.
To apply the Demand-Trend Matrix properly, knowledge of the TRIZ trends of evolution is
expected. Alternatively, this knowledge can be provided by an experienced facilitator (TRIZ
expert) while a team generates ideas by using specific patterns of evolution as thinking triggers.
In such cases, the team members are not required to be familiar with TRIZ. At this moment we
use 24 lines of evolution.
It might take a long time to explore all possible combinations, thus we recommend breaking
the process with DTM to a number of phases. Each phase might concentrate on a certain sub-
system or a specific demand.
2. Completing Demand-Trend Matrix
The process of completing DTM is as follows:
1) Identifying specific customer/ market requirements and demands with respect to a se-
lected product and completing the upper horizontal list in DTM.
2) Identifying important subsystems in the product selected and listing them in the bottom
list.
3) A list of TRIZ Trends of Technology Evolution is fixed and remains the same for any
product.
4) Each cell is checked against possible ideas. In fact, it is a step at which ideas are gener-
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ated. If there are more ideas than one, all ideas are recorded in a cell. The ideas genera-
tion process might be somewhat time-consuming process since we need to generate
ideas for each cell. However, this process can be limited to only those market demands
which we consider as most important.
5) A total score for each TRIZ trend of technology evolution is identified. It consists of a
number of cells which are not empty and belong to the selected TRIZ trend of technol-
ogy evolution.
6) All ideas in each cell are evaluated and decisions are made on further implementation
of the most potential solution candidates.
In case if there are no ideas available with respect to some demand after completing the matrix,
or new ideas contradict to other demands, then the TRIZ principles of separating conflicting
demands and the databases of effects can be used to generate ideas based on the identified
contradiction. The resulting matrix also structures the contradiction space and provides a pos-
sibility to “uncouple” contradicting requirements. In addition, the ideas generated can be eval-
uated and structured according to the importance of the demands and requirements to define
short-term and long-term product/technology innovations.
3. Case: A Hose Pump Evolution (fragment)
Fig.3 A hose (peristaltic) pump
A typical hose (peristaltic) pump consists of the following subsystems of upper level according
to TRIZ Function Analysis:
• Hose
• Shoe
• Connection
• Drive
• Housing
• Rotor
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The Demand-Trend Matrix presented below establishes mapping between market demands for
a hose (peristaltic) pump and the TRIZ trends of technology Evolution (only a fragment is pre-
sented):
Fig. 3: Example of Demand-Trend Matrix (DTM) application
As we can see, application of the TRIZ trend “Structure Transparency” to a subsystem “Hose”
of the hose pump resulted in generation of seven ideas how to modify the hose while application
of the TRIZ Trend “Segmentation of Surface”. In turn, application of these two trends to a
subsystem “Shoe” resulted in two and three ideas of further evolution of the subsystem “Shoe”
of the hose pump. Each idea can be checked to see if it satisfies one or another market require-
ment listed in DTM. If not, the idea should be deleted.
Furthermore, after DTM has been completed, evolution of each subsystem can be visualized
with the help of Evolutionary Radar Plots, introduced in [2] where each radar plot depicts both
initial state of a subsystem evolution and final state of evolution after completion of DTM (Fig.
4).
Fig. 4: Collection of Evolutionary Radar Plots indicating ideas for future development of each specific
subsystem
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4. Benefits of the Demand-Trend Matrix
Summarizing, the use of DTM provides the following:
• Integration of market-based and technology-based methods for forecasting and devel-
oping new ideas and concepts for future products and technologies.
• Direct application of the TRIZ Trends and Lines of Technology Evolution to fulfill mar-
ket demands.
• Providing more opportunities for idea generation by creating and exploring the entire
space of demands related to the TRIZ Trends of Technology Evolution.
• Enabling quick scan of future opportunities by application of the TRIZ Trends of Tech-
nology Evolution.
• Reducing probability of missing important evolution step.
• Providing information for identifying demand-related contradictions.
• Helping better identify and structure short-term and long-term product/technology in-
novations.
Since 2008, DTM has been applied within a number of projects by ICG T&C partners and
customers on product innovation. In each project, a list of new patentable ideas were produced
both for short- and long-term innovative improvements. Currently we are considering how to
integrate DTM and Innovative Technology Roadmapping [3].
References
1. Alex Lyubomirskiy, Simon Litvin, Sergei Ikovenko, Christian M. Thurnes, Robert Adunka.
Trends of Engineering System Evolution (TESE): TRIZ paths to innovation. TRIZ Consulting
Group; 2018
2. Darrell Mann. Hands On Systematic Innovation for Technology and Engineering. IFR Press,
Second Edition, 2007
3. Phaal R., Farrukh C., Probert D. Roadmapping for Strategy and Innovation: Aligning Tech-
nology and Markets in a Dynamic World Institute for Manufacturing. Cambridge: University
of Cambridge, 2010.
Communicating Author: Valeri Souchkov, valeri@xtriz.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
INNOVATIVE DESIGN OF HEAT PUMP AIR
CONDITIONING BASED ON TRIZ
Xiaofan Su, Jiao Chen , Tianyang Yu , Changsheng Bai ， Yamin Zheng
Zhuhai, 519000, China
Abstract
With the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for heating is increasing day by day.
However, 83% of northern China still relies on coal for heating, which is very serious for air pollution.
In response to this problem, the state has issued a series of policies to promote clean energy heating.
Air-source heat pump air conditioning is an innovative technology that is mainly promoted. But at
present, air source heat pump only accounts for 5% of heating in the north. Then why is the proportion
of air source heat pump air conditioning heating small? The project team sorted out the customer voice
(VOC) through the user survey, and obtained a number of user pain points; Aiming at these pain
points, the customer data is analyzed by Pareto diagram to determine the key needs of customers;
Determine the key quality characteristics (CTQ) according to the key requirements of customers
through QFD; According to the key quality characteristics (CTQ), the specific MPV is determined
through MPV analysis. Through S-curve analysis, it is determined that the product is in the growth
stage and the corresponding coping strategies; Through benchmarking analysis, understand the current
situation of the industry and the strategic guidance of S curve analysis, and determine the project
objectives of this project; Aiming at the project objectives, the analysis and solution are carried out by
means of Functional analysis, Flow analysis, Cause-Effect Chain Analysis, Value flow analysis
(ECRS principle), Stand soulution application, Effect library, ARIZ, Trend of flow enhancement,
Villain method, Cost map design, DOE and other tools. Finally, the technical problems of the project
were solved, and the products were successfully listed, and many patents, economic benefits and
various awards were obtained.
Keywords: TRIZ,VOC,QFD,CTQ,DOE
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Communicating author: Xiaofan Su, sxf31307@126.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
USE SU-FIELD TO FIND THE INITIAL CAUSE IN
THE FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Xinming Lu
Yucang TRIZ Workshop
Abstract
When using fishbone diagrams to find the root cause, the user's brainstorming is often too divergent that
making it difficult to find the correct direction. But by conducting a Su-field model analysis of potential
matter and identifying their logical correlations, initial problems and Initial Disadvantages can be
quickly and effectively identified, laying a solid foundation for subsequent cause-chain analysis.
Keyword
：
Fishbone Diagram
，
substance-field model
，
Initial Disadvantages, standard solution
Applicable place: when implementing lean improvement in the manufacturing industry: exist-
ing fixed plant facilities, machinery, and equipment, implemented process flow and initially
stable personnel and management system. The problem to be solved is: Found out the reasons
that affect the product quality and improve the product yield and efficiency.
Shortcomings in fishbone diagrams: In the process of quality management of the manufac-
turing industry, finding the root cause of problems is a crucial action. Fish bone diagram, as a
widely used tool, is simple, intuitive, and effective. It starts with Human, Machinery, Materials,
Methods, Environments, and Measurements, gradually searching for potential factors. How-
ever, when seeking possibility analysis for these elements, it heavily relies on the user's expe-
rience and skills. Overly divergent brainstorming can lead to a wrong direction, and even the
opposite, sometimes becoming a tool for shirking responsibility.
As shown in the following example.
Example: Quality improvement requirements for one of the following stamping parts
The product has scratches, indentations, smaller inner diameter, higher height,
and larger burrs, other defects.
The fishbone diagram analysis of these defects is as follows
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The use and drawing of fishbone diagrams can refer to relevant materials and will not be elab-
orated here.
Figure 1: General Fishbone diagram thinking.
The analysis in the above fishbone diagram has the following disabilities:
- No clear boundary for the problem: The above reasons include both the input
process, the transport process, and the production process. There is no clear def-
inition of the phenomenon, scope, impact, etc. of the cause, and it is impossible
to determine the influencing factors and the resulting impacts.
- Not selecting the appropriate major cause category: Problems need to be an-
alyzed from different perspectives, but often deviating from the problem itself
is called a means of shirking responsibility. If there are problems with materials,
it is easy to attribute them to “The goods shipped by the supplier have defects”
avoiding the responsibility of internal review.
- Brainstorming has no direction, relying on experience: When identifying
various factors, one is either very casual, unable to find direction, or limited to
experience, ignoring various potential feasibility. If the part requires stainless
steel material for stretching, and the hardness increases significantly after
stretching, it is highly likely that the surface of the mold will be scratched. How-
ever, in the past, the problem was not obvious during flat product punching, and
based on past experience, it is not easy to think of hardening factors.
- Failure to properly categorize and organize various factors: A considerable
number of reasons listed can be attributed to two or more major factors simulta-
neously, with unclear, repetitive, and chaotic correlations between them. If the
production personnel do not understand and implement the operation manual, it
can be attributed to a negative work attitude or improper operation methods, and
the actual reasons are not clear.
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- Causes and solutions are disconnected: Finding the cause and implementing
a solution are two different stages, which take a long time and are prone to un-
solvable cause analysis. Sometimes, there are reasons and solutions related to
regulations, human psychological factors, physical methods, and extremely high
costs that cannot be implemented. For example, if there are defects caused by
“The mold and punch head impacted each other”, the solution may change the
process and machine mode, deviating from the work purpose.
So, the use of fishbone diagrams only provides a preliminary framework for dividing the prob-
lem. The search for the root cause and the thinking of solutions depends on the user's experience
and divergent thinking through brainstorming, which requires a lot of time and effort and cannot
truly solve practical problems.
From TRIZ's perspective, every possible cause found in the fishbone diagram can be decom-
posed into each Su-field model. From the philosophical perspective that things are intercon-
nected, the factor with the highest probability of occurrence of substances and fields is the
most likely place for problems to occur. So, consider adding the Su-field model to the fish-
bone diagram.
TRIZ tool : Su-field model
The Su-field model can describe the minimum system that constitutes the problem. When we
need problem points based on the basic elements of Human, Machinery, Materials, Methods,
Environments, and Measurements , all possible causes of brainstorming found are modeled as
Su-fields, depicting the substances and fields related to these possible causes. After describing
all possible causes in the Su- field model, look for the probability of identical or similar sub-
stances and fields occurring, and whether there is a logical, time, and space correlation. Find
the most likely problem point from it. The initial drawback of this quality issue.
The fishbone diagram will look like the following form:
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Figure 2: Su-field added to fishbone analysis
Among them, F1, F3, F4, S1, S2, S4, S5, S6, S8 all have repeated occurrences, so it is highly
likely that the reason is related to them. Then look for the logical, time, and space correlations
between them. Identify initial Disadvantages.
Samples of Stamping part:
In the example above, if there are scratches on the stamping parts, then search for potential
possibilities through brainstorming:
Warehouse input process: The stainless material handler did not check the surface quality of
the stainless during delivery, and rough handling caused damage to the surface of the raw ma-
terials.
F Training F Gravity
S Human S Stainless trip OR S Human S Stainless trip
Production process：The biggest change observed is some particle went into the mold cavity
and pasted on stainless strip, that is, impurities enter the mold cavity and attach to the strip,
resulting in scratches and bruises during stamping.
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F Air flow F Mechanical
Mold cavity
S Impurity S Mold cavity S Stainless strip
F Air flow
Stainless strip
S Impurity S Stainless strip
Find repetitive substances and fields such as S Human, S Stainless strip, F Air flow, etc., and consider the
logical relationship between them, then transform the problem “reducing product scratches”
into another initial problem:” how to protect the surface of the Stainless strip throughout the
entire process”. Then conduct causes-chain analysis based on this.
Secondly, using a Su- field model to identify potential reasons of defects can also reveal that
different defects come from the same reason.
Defects: smaller inner diameter, higher height, and larger burrs.
Potential reason as follow:
F Mechanical
Small inner diameter
S Hard stainless S Punch head (die material surface)
F Mechanical
The product height is on the high side
S Hard stainless S Mold closing position (die material surface)
F Mechanical
Burr becomes larger
S Hard stainless S Mold cavity (die material surface)
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It is easy to find that it is all caused by the work hardening effect of stainless steel.
F Mechanical
S Soft stainless S Hard stainless
By the way, another additional effect of using a Su-field model for analysis is that standard
solutions can be applied to solve these problems.
As in the example above harden stainless, which according to the standard solution:
1.2.1 Introduce any substance between two substances of the system: PVD coating on the
mold material surface.
1.2.3 The variant of substance S1 or S2: Use softer stainless , the hardness after stamping is
not so large, and finally increase the hardness by heat treatment. Or the surface of die mate-
rial is hardened by laser.
1.2.4 Introduce a victim to absorb harmful effects: The die components that contact with the
stainless surface shall be changed into surface moving parts, which shall be replaced quickly
in case of heavy wear.
While discovering problems, one can also find ways to solve them.
Summary
The addition of Su-field models to fishbone analysis provides a new perspective. Better ability
to mine hidden problem, enabling more effective discovery and resolution of problems. Expand
the application of TRIZ tool in Lean manufacturing.
Reference:
1. Shan Runhua TRIZ and Applications The process and Methods of Technology Innovation .
[J] . Higher Education Press , 2010
2. Zhao Ming , Zhang Wucheng, Wang Guanzhu , TRIZ Enhancement and Practical Applica-
tions . [M] . China Machine Press . 2015
3. Simon Litvin , Vladimir Gerasimov, Alex Lyubomirskiy, Sun Yongwei . The Golden Key To
Open The Door Of Innovation (II) . [G] . China Science Press . 2020
Darrell L Mann . Hands-On Systematic Innovation For Technical Systems . [J] . IFR Press .
2002
4. Zhang Jian . Quality Management Practice: One Book Of Methods, Skills And Tools Is
Enough. [M] . China People's Post and Telecommunications Press . 2021
5. Zhan Bikao . Lean Quality Management: Methods, Tools And Implementation Guide . [M].
China Electronic Industry Press. 2022
Communicating Author: Xinming Lu, nasonlu@163.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
BUSINESS ORCHESTRATION STRATEGY FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF
ENTERPRISES BASED ON S-CURVE
Zhang Jing*, Zhang Heyang**, Zhang Xiangmin*
*Henan University of Science and Technology, Business School, Henan Luoyang, 471000,
China;
**The University of Sydney, Faculty of Engineering, NSW, 2006, Australia
Abstract
Technological innovation is an important driving force for enterprise growth. However, the technology
environment faced by enterprises is more and more complex, and the rapid iteration of technology makes
the technology lifecycle shorter and shorter. In such a technological environment, if the enterprise can-
not operate the products on the current technological curve well, or fails to arrange the next generation
technology in time (the second S-curve), the enterprise will face a growth crisis or a death crisis. As a
law curve of technology development, S-curve can guide enterprises to adopt appropriate product de-
velopment strategies in different stages of technology development. The second S-curve can well con-
tinue the enterprise lifecycle. The paper makes comprehensive use of S-curve, continuous innovation
and discontinuous innovation theory to explore “when” and “how” to transform to the second S-curve
business. The window of opportunity to explore the second S-curve has been discussed. From the per-
spective of technology and market, the work divides the path of exploring the second S-curve into four
categories: Fusion Mode, Fission Mode, Coupled Mode and Autophagy Mode, which enriches the prod-
uct evolution theory, and provides an innovation path for the sustainable development of enterprises.
Keywords: S-curve, lifecycle, continuous innovation, discontinuous innovation
1. Introduction
In Face of the ever-changing internal and external environment, technological innovation has
become the main driving force for economic development and enterprise growth in every coun-
tries. Innovation is not only for business survival, but also for growth. As we know, invention
is not a random process. In the classic TRIZ theory, Genrikh Altshuller proposed that whether
it is the improvement of technology, the iteration of products or the development of enterprises
and industries, the final growth form is manifested as an "S" curve over time. Engineers can
estimate the stage of the S-curve, and apply the Trends of Engineering System Evolution
(TESE) to carry out technical layout, and achieve the strategic reserve of new products and the
layout of market promotion in advance in the research and development (R&D). That is, it can
jointly use the theories of S-curve and TESE to do incremental innovation, so as to ensure the
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rapid development of the enterprise. TRIZ theories, such as TESE and S-curve, provide rich
instrumental support in guiding incremental innovation.
However, the economies of scale in the process of technology accumulation will cause the in-
cumbent enterprises to have technology stickiness and path dependence (David, 1985[1]; Ar-
thur, 1989[2]), thus locking the enterprises in the existing technology paradigm. On the one
hand, the attention of enterprises is mainly focused on the technology paradigm being used,
thus ignoring the attention of other technologies; On the other hand, the self-reinforcing tech-
nical specialization in the reproduction process makes the technological base and technical ca-
pabilities of the enterprises increasingly narrow, thus undermining their ability to explore new
technologies. At the same time, technological path dependence also means that incumbent com-
panies focus their attention mainly on existing customers, ignoring other potential customers
(Christensen and Bower, 1996[1]). Thus, core competence becomes core stickiness (Leonard-
Barton,1992[2]). Once the market structure changes, companies become very vulnerable.
Moreover, any S-curve of growth will slip past the apex of the parabola and then enter into a
period of decline. In recent years, with the rapid development of technology, the technology
lifecycle is getting shorter and shorter (Fig. 1). For example, the technology lifecycle of infor-
mation technology represented by ABCDE (Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud compu-
ting, Big data, Edge computing) is shortening in an all-round way, which further intensifies the
changes in market structure brought about by technology.
Fig. 1 The development of product technology adoption
Data source: Comin and Hobijn research data from New York university
The development history of multiple industrial technologies shows that the emergence of dis-
continuous technologies often changes the original industrial structure, making the market lead-
ers reshuffle, and some new entrants will get transcendental development, while the original
industry leaders gradually fall behind or even disappear in the market. For example, new en-
trants can adopt disruptive new technologies to gain market share from incumbents through
technological superiority (Christensen, 2018[3]). Rosenberg(1982)[4] pointed out that discon-
tinuous technological innovation is one of the important sources of sustainable growth of a
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company. Discontinuous technological innovation provides enterprises with new product inno-
vation opportunities. This innovation activity also opens up new economic development oppor-
tunities for the whole economy, so the secret to sustained growth is to keep exploring new S-
curves. In this work, the S-curve of the current operation of the enterprise is called the "first S-
curve", and the new business (new technology or new product) that replaces the first curve is
called the "second S-curve".
Therefore, the synthesis of multiple technology/product second S-curves constitutes the sus-
tainable development lifecycle of the enterprise, that is, if the enterprise can form a continuous
cycle of developing a generation of products and planning a generation of products, the second
stage of the enterprise lifecycle will be extended and sustainable growth will be formed (Fig.
2). How to handle the orchestration of the first S-curve and the second S-curve has become a
prominent problem that incumbent enterprises need to solve in the period of market instability
for sustainable survival and development, and at the same time, it represents opportunities and
surpassing for new entrants. Therefore, the exploration of the second S-curve is of great signif-
icance to both incumbent enterprises and new entrants.
Fig. 2 The relationship between the first curve, the second curve and the enterprise lifecycle
However, the second S-curve is discontinuous from the first S-curve, and there is a gap between
the two. Due to the increasing number of development directions, the interweaving and inte-
gration of different directions are more close and complex than ever before. Choosing the di-
rection of the second S-curve is not easy, and it has become even more difficult. Therefore, in
order to grasp the rhythm of sustainable development, enterprises need to pay attention to the
innovative methodology of the transformation of the first S-curve to the second S-curve. This
work mainly discussed the business orchestration strategy of enterprise sustainable develop-
ment from two aspects: "When" and "How". First, when to switch to the second S-curve? Sec-
ond, how do you find the second S-curve? The solution of these problems is of great signifi-
cance for perfecting the theories of S-curve and TESE, and promoting sustainable development
of enterprises.
The rest of this work is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the theoretical background,
focusing on the classification of continuous innovation and discontinuous innovation, and the
methodology of implementing the two kinds of innovation. Section 3 mainly analyzes the
breakthrough point, the inflection point, and the limit point of S-curve from the perspective of
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time. The opportunity window of the second S-curve conversion was discussed. In Section 4,
four kinds of second S-curve transition modes are proposed by using discontinuous innovation
theory and TRIZ theory comprehensively, and illustrated by cases respectively.
2. Theoretical background
The path to innovation is fraught with risks - similar ideas, missed opportunities, innovation
failures, and misplaced goals that weigh heavily on the shoulders of decision-makers. Because
of these risks and heavy pressures, decision-makers often choose to be a follower rather than
leader. TRIZ experts and scholars have conducted a comprehensive methodological exploration
around these issues.
Since Schumpeter put forward the theory of innovation, scholars from different countries have
classified innovation according to different criteria and dimensions. This work mainly focused
on continuous innovation (that is, innovation is based on the original technological trajectory
and knowledge, and constantly improve and introduce new products) and discontinuous inno-
vation (that is, innovation that breaks away from the original continuous technological trajec-
tory). There are two categories of innovation related to the two types of innovation studied in
this work.
The first type of classification method is based on the degree of innovation, and innovation is
divided into: incremental innovation and breakthrough innovation. Incremental innovation re-
fers to the small degree of improvement and upgrading of products or processes under the orig-
inal technological trajectory. Breakthrough innovation is a type of innovation that leads to a
huge leap in the main indicators of product performance, and it has a decisive impact on market
rules, competitive situation, industrial landscape, and even leads to industry reshuffling. All
successful technology businesses require continuous (incremental) innovation to meet the
changing needs of today's customers. But these innovations must be periodically supplemented
by discontinuous innovation. Breakthrough innovation is a major type of discontinuous inno-
vation.
The second type of classification is based on the continuity of innovation and the market divi-
sion, which divides innovation into: sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation[5]. Sus-
taining innovation is the continuous improvement and introduction of new products based on
the original technological trajectory and knowledge. Disruptive innovation refers to a kind of
product or service innovation that introduce performance attributes or combinations of attrib-
utes that are valued by low-end or new users, and it based on the principle of good enough
technology, and integration of various technologies, which deviates from the performance at-
tributes valued by mainstream market users. This type of innovation is a kind of discontinuous
technological innovation that partially replaces or subverts the products or services of the ex-
isting mainstream market by occupying the low-end market or new market first, thereby ex-
panding the existing market or opening up new markets. Sustaining innovation is committed to
improving existing products in the dimensions that consumers value, and providing better prod-
ucts to existing markets; while disruptive innovations either create new markets or create a new
value proposition to reshape existing markets.
In the above two categories of innovation, incremental innovation and sustaining innovation
belong to continuous innovation. Breakthrough innovation and disruptive innovation are both
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discontinuous innovation, but their positions relative to the first S-curve are different. Break-
through innovation focuses more on the great leap in the main indicators of product perfor-
mance brought about by technological innovation; while disruptive innovation emphasizes in-
novations that meet different market demands. Both breakthrough innovation and disruptive
innovation emphasize the development process of emerging technologies or products from 0 to
1. Continuous innovation is an iterative process of optimization from 1 to 100 to 1000. The
relationship between these innovation categories is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 The relationship between various types of innovation
On the basis of understanding the types of innovation, it needs to focus on how each type of
innovation is developed and implemented.
Methodology for implementing continuous innovation
During the periods of market stability, companies tend to choose to reproduce with ex-
isting technological paradigms in order to realize as much value as possible from exist-
ing technologies (Raisch et al., 2018[6]).
Almost all the existing methods of TRIZ, including Functional Analysis and Tailoring,
Contradiction Analysis and 40-Invention Principles, Standard Solutions, S-curve and
TESE, and so on, can solve the invention problems in the continuous innovation process.
Specially, the combination of S-curves and TESE is a good way to guide product incre-
mental innovation[7] (Fig. 4), while other methods can address a specific innovation
problem in the technology/product development process.
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Fig. 4. The S-curve is used in conjunction with TEST to guide technology/product continuity in-
novation
Methodology for implementing discontinuous innovation
It is not a trivial task for established companies to recognize the potential of disruptive
changes and to implement innovations in time[8]. In recent years, the two-wheel drive
of technological innovation and consumption upgrading has brought subversive changes
and challenges to traditional industries. The discontinuity of innovation model and tech-
nology path has been widely concerned (Moerenhout et al, 2018[9]). In the past, most
of the research on discontinuous innovation are focused on technological trajectories
and technological paradigm.
From the perspective of technological trajectories, relevant studies have basically sum-
marized the main influencing factors of technological trajectories change into four cat-
egories: scientific and technological factors (Nelson, 2008[10]), economic factors (Lee
& Lim, 2001[11]), institutional environmental factors (Kim et al, 2017[12]) and enter-
prise factors (Schot & Geels, 2008[13]).
From the perspective of technological paradigm, scholars define technological para-
digm as a solution to a specific class of technical and economic problems based on some
specific natural discipline principles or specific raw materials (Haupt et al, 2007[14]),
or a set of principles, rules, approaches, standards or practices that can solve problems
(Christensen & Bower, 2015[15]).
In the transformation process of technological paradigm, not only does technological
progress show discontinuity, but also new method systems and thinking models may be
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generated (Gao et al., 2019[16]; Svarc et al, 2020[17]), which makes the overall inno-
vation process show mutability and transition characteristics. Therefore, the connotation
and extension of the discontinuous innovation formed by the transformation of technol-
ogy paradigm are no longer limited to the adjustment of the technological development
direction limited by the technological trajectories, but instead take the jump of market
factors such as demand and product into the research vision, and the denotation of dis-
continuous innovation is greatly expanded. In the field of technology paradigm trans-
formation, three viewpoints have been formed: technology-driven theory (Foster,
1986[18]), demand-driven theory (Rosenbloom & Christensen, 1994[19]), and co-
driven theory of technology and demand. For example, Christensen and Bower (1996)
argue that disruptive innovation is the result of a combination of technology and demand，
which is the result of the inconsistent between the trajectory of technological progress
and product performance available to consumers. The theory of technology paradigm
transformation enriches the meaning of discontinuous innovation and expands the
boundary of theoretical research.
However, the technology paradigm transformation theory, like the technology trajecto-
ries theory, focuses on the post-summary of the technological evolution process and
results from a qualitative perspective, so it is difficult to make a forward-looking pre-
diction of the path and direction of discontinuous innovation. It is urgent to make a
major breakthrough in theory and research methods for discontinuous innovation re-
search.
3. Business orchestration strategy for when to explore the second S-curve
The second S-curve (technology paradigm transformation) breaks the technical barriers and
structural inertia built by advanced enterprises relying on the old paradigm, so that there's an
opportunity to take advantage of by the latecomer firm. Therefore, when to transform to the
second S-curve (window of opportunity) is of great significance both for incumbents to keep
leading and latecomers to catch up.
3.1 S-curve and Windows of opportunity
The period in which an opportunity is evaluated is called the window of opportunity. Being the
first in the market during the window of opportunity can lead to significant cash flow. But
uncertainty about the stage of the opportunity can create big challenges for startups. If the leader
misestimates the duration of the window, then the cash flow will be greatly reduced. According
to the window of opportunity theory, the product/technology life cycle provides two Windows
of opportunity for latecomers[20] (Fig. 5.). The first window of opportunity occurs mainly at
the mature stage of the technological life cycle. At this stage, latecomers can introduce and
adopt advanced technologies from leading companies to accumulate technical capabilities. The
second window of opportunity mainly occurs during the introduction phase of the technological
life cycle. In the early stage of technological system development, scientific and technological
knowledge is mostly in the public knowledge domain and laboratory stage, with low require-
ments for experience and skills and low barriers to entry.
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Fig. 5. S-curve and Windows of opportunity
For the first opportunity window, the technology/product has been in the mature stage and is
about to enter the decline period. If the pace is slightly slower, the technology/product intro-
duced and developed by the enterprise will become obsolete technology/product. Therefore, it
is not easy to grasp the first window of opportunity. For the second opportunity window, both
the incumbent firm and the newcomers are at the same starting line. If new companies can enter
new technology systems at a faster pace and carry out technological innovation on a larger
scale, it is possible to promote the growth of emerging industries faster and effectively narrow
the technology gap with previous leading companies. This kind of opportunity window should
be grasped.
3.2 Windows of opportunity for exploring the second S-curve
The second S-curve is itself an S-curve, so it is also necessary to pay attention to the second
window of opportunity. The question, then, is: at which stage of the first S-curve to develop the
business of the second S-curve.
In the development of the S-curve, there are three important nodes: the breakthrough point
which is between the first and second stage, the inflection point which is between the second
and third stage, and the limit point which is the vertex of parabola in the third stage.
For the breakthrough point, the node is at the demarcation point between the first stage and the
second stages, that is, the transition stage between the first stage and the second stage. In this
period, engineering systems will soon leave the laboratory stage and will soon enter the market.
The engineering system has attracted great attention, and its driving force and resistance force
are forming an unstable equilibrium state. The breakthrough at this point represents the engi-
neering system successfully overcoming resistance force to enter the market, i.e. entering a very
dynamic growth phase of the S-curve. Then the engineering system can be used the TRIZ to
implement continuous innovation. Enterprises with a sense of crisis can begin to expand the
second S-curve after breaking through this point.
For the inflection point, the node is at the demarcation point between the second and third
stages. Reaching that point marks the end of the S-curve second stage of rapid development.
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The engineering system is about to enter the third stage of slow development. Around the in-
flection point, the engineering system has the best state of resources, and it is also the best time
to explore the second S-curve.
For the limit point, the node is at the vertex of parabola in the third stage. The first S-curve
meets the development bottleneck. MPV growth turned from "positive" to "negative". This
means that there is already a second S-curve that replaces the first S-curve, which enters the
second stage of its rapid development. Beyond the limit point, the best period for developing
the second S-curve has been missed.
Therefore, the paper holds that the stage between breakthrough point and limit point is the win-
dow of opportunity for the exploration of the second S-curve. The best time to explore the
second S-curve of development is around inflection point (Fig. 6.).
Fig. 6. Windows of opportunity for exploring the second S-curve
4. Business orchestration strategy for how to explore the second S-curve
Discontinuous innovation is a time concept, that is, the transition from the first S-curve to the
second S-curve across the stage of discontinuity. Once the discontinuous innovation transfor-
mation is complete, the continuous innovation begins immediately. Therefore, exploring inno-
vation opportunities and seizing these opportunities through creative activities has significant
significance for second S-curve discontinuous innovation. The development of new technology,
the instability of the market and the dynamic competition make the choice of the second S-
curve have many possible paths. Based on the theoretical research in Part 2.2, the work divides
the path to explore the second S-curve into the following four categories.
The S-curve method in TRIZ theory contains an ecological strategy, that is, in the second stage,
it gradually cultivates a product ecology centered on specific user needs by enriching the de-
velopment and design of technology or products. In the third stage, the adaptive ecosystem of
super-system and technology system is formed. The development of the second S-
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curve business of Fusion Mode strategy can be achieved by combing with the development
strategy of the second and third stages of S-curve and TESE, which can expand the product
family ecosystem with the first S-curve product as the core.
Fusion Mode which can be called ecological layout strategy is that forming a series of product
families controlled by the first S-curve products or with the first S-curve products as the core
by applying the Trend of Transition to the Super system, Trend of Increasing Controllability,
and Trend of Increasing Completeness and other evolutionary trends. And then further to form
a series of products, and finally these product families gather into a interdependent, resource-
sharing ecosystem.
The following takes China's Millets as an example to illustrate the implementation of this strat-
egy. Millets was founded in 2010, and it initially positioned itself as a cost-effective smartphone
company. Millets has made a series of improvements in mobile phone hardware and human-
computer interaction software, and has become a leader in the smartphone market with cost-
effective product design. Beginning in 2015, Millets was affected by the bottleneck of industry
development, and shipments began to decline. Millets began to lay out the periphery of the
phone, that is, to develop products that can be adapted to the smartphone and products con-
trolled by the smartphone, such as mobile power supply, earphones, protective cases, around
different consumption scenarios of mobile phones. At the same time, Millets also focuses on
home intelligent hardware products, such as AI audio and video, smart TV, air cleaner, balance
car, Intellilamp, etc, which all can be smart link with Millets mobile phone. In addition, the
company has also expanded its intelligent hardware offerings, and functional consumable prod-
ucts such as towels, bags, signature pens and mattresses etc. From intelligent hardware to living
supplies, Millets has created a “MI fans” lifestyle in an all-round way.Millets’ product ecolog-
ical expansion along the three circles of “mobile phone peripheral - smart hardware - lifestyle”.
As a result, Millets has created a series of ecological chain enterprises owned or controlled by
Millets. The product family of Millets is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. The product family of Millets
As can be seen from the above case of Millets, When the smartphone business reached the
second stage, Millets began to use the Trend of Transition to the Super system, Trend of In-
creasing Controllability, and Trend of Increasing Completeness and other evolutionary trends
to lay out product gradient development circles. When the company entered the mature stage
of smart phones, the growth of the company's mobile phone business was weak, but by taking
advantage of the evolution trend such as The Trend of Increasing Coordination and the Trend
of Transition to the Supersystem, it constantly improved the existing products and new products
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formed in the second stage, and built a series of second S-curves growth businesses that could
replace the first S-curve, see Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Ecological layout strategy of Millets
Compared with the Fusion Mode (Ecological layout strategy), the Fission Model emphasizes
the evolution of the first S-curve business to the super-system, that is, the fission of the first S-
curve business into the expansion, extension or matching of the company's existing business or
related business, or even a new growth point that has nothing to do with the company's existing
business.
From the perspective of business relationship, the new business relationship is not like the eco-
system formed by each business supporting and supporting each other in mode 4.1, but becomes
more divergent, so it is called the "Fission Mode". In the Fission Mode, the expansion of the
second S-curve business can be implemented according to the sub-trend of the Trend of Tran-
sition to the Super system: The parameters of the integrated system are more and more different
from those of the original system: replication of the first S-curve business → extension of the
first S-curve business → expansion of the first S-curve business → fission of the first S-curve
business. In the implementation process, the organizational model adopted can take the form of
"intrapreneurship".
4.2.1 Replication of the first S-curve business
This strategy refers to the large-scale replication of the first S-Curve business. Xibei company
let their chefs or store managers to expand new stores across China. The initial cost is borne by
the company, the entrepreneurial team can obtain 40% of the shares. Through the adoption of
this "entrepreneurial competition department" mechanism, Xibei has rapidly achieved the trans-
formation of expanding from a rural store to a catering group worth about 7 billion RMB.
4.2.2 Extension of the first S-curve business
This strategy refers to taking the first S-curve business as the core component, and extending
new products to form the second S-curve business on this basis. Take Dyson, for example.
Dyson is a typical technology-driven company, and its founder, James Dyson, is an inventor
entrepreneur. There are two epoch-making technologies in the history of Dyson technology
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research and development - "cyclone technology" and "digital motor technology". Dyson relies
on these two technologies to firmly grasp the minds of middle and high-end consumers in the
existing categories. Dyson continues to complete continuous innovation in the field of digital
motors (V1→V11), at the same time, based on digital motor technology, there are a series of
new products with digital motors as the core components had been developed, such as vacuum
cleaners, hair dryers, bladeless fans and air-purifying headphones. Relying on the high technical
barriers of the core components of digital motors, Dyson has created a series of second S-curve
businesses such as vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, bladeless fans and air purification headphones.
4.2.3 Expansion of the first S-curve business
This strategy refers to the continuous expansion of new businesses around the demand of the
first S-curve business chain. Auto Boty, for example, was founded in 2010 and its main business
is industrial robots. The company observes that most customers' demand for industrial robots
is often accompanied by a demand for supporting products related to industrial robots. How-
ever, because the company's production capacity is relatively saturated, there is no energy to
meet this related demand of customers. To this end, Auto Boty has set up a Maker Technology
center. As long as they have the ability to fulfill customer needs and strengthen the function of
the industrial chain, both internal makers and external makers in the industrial chain can get the
corresponding support provided by the platform. The business that Auto Boty cannot meet the
needs of customers is realized through the innovation and entrepreneurship of makers. Through
the expansion of the first S-Curve business in the industrial chain, it has now developed into
the largest and most powerful professional industrial robot application system integrator in
China.
4.2.4 Fission of the first S-curve business
The strategy is to build on the core strengths of the first S-Curve business and develop a second
S-curve products that is completely different from the first S-Curve, or the first S-curve business
becomes a platform, supporting and incubating a series of new profit growth points. Take
PHNIX, for example. In 2002, Zong Yi founded PHNIX Energy Saving Equipment Co., LTD.,
whose main business is focused on heat pump technology related products. In 2005, PHNIX
began to adopt the development mode of "internal entrepreneurship fission", encouraging some
key employees to set up their own companies, and becoming a new profit growth point for
PHNIX. There are 7 such kind of enterprises that established by PHNIX employees. Their busi-
ness mainly involved in the production of metal products, energy-saving equipment, electrical,
plastic products and other businesses. The fission companies are jointly invested by PHNIX's
core employees. These enterprises are independent legal persons, and the employees are the
main shareholders of their own enterprises, holding more than 50%. For PHNIX, it controls the
key high-profit links, strengthens the competitive advantage, and forms a series of profit growth
points.
This strategy emphasizes the coupling of resources within the enterprise. It emphasizes that the
newly expanded second S-curve business and the existing business of the enterprise are coupled
and promoted each other. Take Amazon, for example. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994.
Amazon has successively built five second S-curve businesses, including e-commerce, Prime,
Marketplace, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and artificial intelligence. So that Amazon has
been exploring new areas for 30 years, and has been the dominant player in new areas.
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Amazon and Bezos himself have repeatedly emphasized a business sense - the Flywheel Effect.
The "Flywheel Effect" refers to the fact that the various business modules of a company will
push each other organically, like the cogs of the bite. At first, it takes a lot of effort to go from
standstill to rotation, but every turn of effort will not be wasted, once you turn, the gear will
turn faster and faster. At Amazon, the flywheel effect is made up of three businesses: Prime,
Marketplace, and AWS. Prime is Amazon's VIP service. Marketplace allows third-party sellers
to sell goods on Amazon's platform. The main function of AWS is to provide enterprise-class
cloud services to all types of businesses. Prime, Marketplace, and AWS create Amazon's fly-
wheel effect: the more products, the more choice customers have; The more choices customers
have, the more they buy VIP services; The more VIP services you buy, the more often and the
more you consume. The more often and volume you consume, the more Amazon can undercut
suppliers; The more Amazon cuts prices, the more customers profit... This flywheel keeps spin-
ning, and it has also made the Amazon Empire thrive for three decades(see Fig. 9.).
Fig. 9. Amazon flywheel coupled mode
As technology continue to evolve, the magnitude of change in existing systems will increase,
and innovation will eventually evolve into breakthroughs. Therefore, incumbent enterprises
need a kind of courage to overcome their own, that is, decisive autophagy. This strategy refers
to the phenomenon of introducing new products ( the second S-curve business) to compete with
the company's existing products( the first S-curve business), or replacing the company's existing
products with new products. When companies don't want to introduce new products to compete
with existing ones, they often fall under the illusion that if they don't develop new products, no
one else will either. When a new opportunity arises, new entrants tend to be more flexible be-
cause they don't need to think about an existing product or business. The autophagy model may
have a great impact on the existing product business of incumbent enterprises, so incumbent
enterprises need some courage to adopt this model.
Take Apple, for example. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple. Jobs also
ran several classic "second curve" businesses throughout his life. Jobs also ran several classic
"second S-curve" businesses throughout his life. Apple's first product was the iMac. It launched
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
273
its second product, the iPod, in 2001. After Apple launched iTunes in 2007, the company be-
came known as the "Music Company." Because the iPod accounts for 50% of the company's
revenue, and its market share is 74%. At that time when the iPod was the company's flagship
product, Apple launched its second S-curve business, the iPhone. The iPhone completely covers
the functions of the iPod. In other words, Apple replaced its first S-curve business with a second
S-curve business. The development of these two businesses is a complete autophagy model.
Thanks to such decisions, this is not only Apple's proudest achievement, but also a memorable
turning point in the history of global smartphone manufacturing. Success followed with the
iPhone, making Apple the most valuable brand in the world for many years in a row.
5. Conclusions
In the process of technological innovation, continuous innovation is built on the basis of exist-
ing products and production processes, while non-continuous innovation needs to deviate from
the existing technological paradigm. Once continuous technology reaches maturity, discontin-
uous disruptive innovation and the revolution of technological paradigm become the driving
force of social progress. Therefore, when and how to choose and transform between the first S-
curve and the second S-curve of technology/product become the key to sustainable develop-
ment of enterprises. Using TRIZ theory and discontinuous innovation theory, the work dis-
cusses when and how to transform from the first S-curve to the second S- curve.
The work argues that the window of opportunity to explore the second S-curve lies in the stage
between breakthrough point and limit point. The best time to explore the second S-curve of
development is around inflection point.
From the perspective of technology and market, the work divides the path of exploring the
second S-curve into four categories: Fusion Mode, Fission Mode, Coupled Mode and Autoph-
agy Mode. The work explains the four strategies respectively and explains them with cases. On
the basis of S curve and TESE, the work carries out the exploration of the second S-curve
business, enriches the product evolution theory, and provides an innovation path for the sus-
tainable development of enterprises.
Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by General program of Humanities and Social Science
Research, China Ministry of Education, under Grant No. 17YJA630134; Postgraduate Educa-
tion Reform and Quality Improvement Project of Henan Province, under Grant
No.YJS2022ZX18; Higher Education Teaching Reform Research and Practice Project of He-
nan Province, under Grant No.2021SJGLX123.
References
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Research[J]. Journal of Management Studies, 2018,55(7):1043-1078.
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5. Clayton M Christensen. The Innovator's Dilemma[M]. Harvard Business Review Press,21 Jan.
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6. Raisch, S., T. J. Hargrave, and A. H. Van de Ven. The Learning Spiral: A Process Perspective
on Paradox[J]. Journal of Management Studies, 2018,55(8):1507-1526.
7. Zhang Jing, Zhang Xiangmin, Guo Kai. Study on the TESE Application Roadmap under the
Strategic Development of S-curve[C]. TRIZfest 2019, September 12-14. Heilbronn, Germany.
8. Melanie W, Regina G, Franz S .Collaborative open foresight - A new approach for inspiring
discontinuous and sustainability-oriented innovations[J].Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 2018: S0040162517306273-.DOI:10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.008.
9. Moerenhout, T. et al. E-health beyound technology: Analyzing the paradigm shift that lies
beneath[J]. Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, 2018, 21(1):31-41
10. Nelson, R. R. Factors affecting the power of technological paradigms[J]. Industrial and
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Korean industries[J]. Research Policy, 2001,30(3):459-483
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19. Rosenbloom, R.S. & C. M. Christensen. Technological discontinuity, organizational capability
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20. PEREZ C, SOETE L. Catching up in technology: entry barriers and Windows of
opportunity[M]. DOSI G, FREEMAN C, NELSON, et al. Technology change and economic
theory.London: Francis Pinter, 1988:458-479
Communicating Author: Zhang Jing, zhangjinghaust@163.com
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Special Section: TRIZ for Education
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
276
The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
POPULARIZATION OF TRIZ PEDAGOGY AND
CREATIVITY DEVELOPMENT AMONG YOUNG
CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS. ARTISTIC
APPROACH
Alisa Faer
Abstract
The practice of using the artistic approach to popularize TRIZ, TRIZ pedagogy and other tools for cre-
ativity development. Cartoons, fairy tales, stories, quests, videos as a key to a wide audience.
Keywords: TRIZ popularization, children and parents, TRIZ pedagogy, artistic approach, fairy tales,
cartoons.
1. Introduction
My path to the world of creative thinking and problem solving began through "Young Inventor's
Fairy Tales by Cat Potryaskin". [1]. This is a collection of interesting open tasks from fairy
tales, compiled by Anatoly Guin. As a child, when I solved these problems, it felt like I was
helping a character, I wanted to find as many solutions as possible and see if I guessed the one
that was finally used in the story. I did not yet know the TRIZ tools that would help me come
up with solutions faster and acted intuitively, but it was then that I remembered that amazing
feeling when you look for an original way, use your imagination and end up with a non-obvious
solution.
I grew up, the tasks became more complicated, but the habit of solving them, and doing it
creatively, not stopping at the first option, remained. And I believe that this habit was formed
at the time when I joined the world of inventive thinking thanks to fairy tales and an artistic
approach to presenting inventive problems. I had a dream to help other people unfamiliar with
TRIZ to enter this field, to feel the pleasure of solving problems and challenging their thinking.
I see the key to introducing TRIZ to a new audience is to use an artistic approach.
At the moment, my professional path in TRIZ pedagogy is related to the development of mate-
rials aimed at an audience unfamiliar with TRIZ. Mostly for preschoolers and their parents.
To increase efficiency, I set myself the task of developing materials that:
1. Work directly with the audience, without any intermediary like teacher or specialist who
knows something about TRIZ. Goal: to reach as large an audience as possible; IFR:
there is no teacher, but his/her function is fulfilled.
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2. Cause the interest of the audience not only as mind developing tasks, but as entertain-
ment. Plot, bright form, intrigue. Learning is given implicitly. IFR: users themselves
want to learn. The solution - they do not notice the learning process. There is no need to
stimulate motivation, it arises on its own (if the material is composed correctly, inter-
esting, you empathize with the hero and want to help him/her and find out how it all
ends).
3. Use modern technology, interactivity, look for an interesting form of materials, use a
variety of presentation formats. The goal: to reach a larger audience. Some like books,
some like cartoons, some like quests, some like music videos on YouTube. The task: to
try different formats of presentation, finding the most advantageous.
Below I tell about my most successful experiments on the introduction of an artistic approach
to develop creativity and to get new people acquainted with TRIZ tools.
2. Main body
2.1 Cartoon “TRIZ with Potryaskin the Cat”
Together with Anton Smirnov and Paramult company we released a twelve-minute cartoon on
YouTube about how Potryaskin the cat helps the forest dwellers solve problems [2]. According
to the plot, the heroes need to get a bag of gold from a dragon in order to stop deforestation.
The cartoon introduces viewers to such concepts as: resources, experiment, subtask, main func-
tion, contradiction. Since it was an experiment aimed at a younger audience, the concepts were
given in a free, simplified interpretation, and the cartoon was made in black and white. What in
professional circles is called animatik (the characters don't even move, it's a draft of a cartoon).
Despite this, the cartoon has aroused audience interest. At the moment the video has 21 thou-
sand views on YouTube, and the feedback form [3], in which we asked how interested viewers
were in this topic and gave tests for understanding the terms, was attended by several hundred
people, and the answers are still coming in.
I cannot recommend the cartoon for practical application, because now I see that the wording
of the terms is not correct enough and a more systematic approach is needed, at least a separate
cartoon for each concept or TRIZ tool. However, the response of the audience at that moment
made it clear that the direction was right, and the artistic edging captures the viewers' interest
and allows to present the developmental part in an easy and entertaining way.
2.2 "TRIZ and the Cat" - a project in social networks
Together with TRIZ-teachers Elena Buyanova and Alena Popova, we organized a social net-
working project called "TRIZ and the Cat" [4, 5]. At the moment, the total audience is 6,000
subscribers. The aim of the project was to test new approaches in popularizing TRIZ and TRIZ-
pedagogy, the audience being parents and teachers. We tried to present TRIZ theory and prac-
tice in the form of interactive exercises, videos, animations, fairy tales, poems, lesson scenarios,
and quests. New author's exercises and intellectual games were made available to the public,
and the audience played them online. We introduced subscribers to TRIZ concepts (ideality,
IFR, contradiction, cause-effect analysis, system approach, system operator, morphological
analysis), the history of TRIZ creation and development, and other methods of creative thinking
development. A separate niche was occupied by the more understandable for a wide (and espe-
cially younger) audience topic "Development of Creative Imagination". In order to systematize
knowledge in this area and to add an artistic approach, we decided to combine the techniques
of guided imagination in a fairy tale online quest [6]. Parents and children were invited to be
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
278
heroes, to save those who got into trouble. Each day of the quest had a new plot twist, new
tasks, new piece of the theory and new step on the drawn map of the magical world. More than
400 people took part in the quest, they sent their solutions to the tasks, crafts, drawings and
thoughts.
After the project gained speed, we were contacted by a publishing firm with a proposal to pub-
lish the games from the quest in books. Thus, three books were published in 1,000 copies each
[7, 8, 9]. In addition to developmental games in cards, the books contain information about
what TRIZ and TRIZ-pedagogy are and why they are useful. Thus, we got a super effect - by
attracting a new audience with an artistic game form of presentation, we also attracted the in-
terest of publishers, who, by publishing the books, allowed us to reach an even larger number
of people.
2.3 Continuation of the Tales of the Potryaskin the Cat
This was not the end of the story of the fabulous cat, a guide to the world of TRIZ. Anatoly
Guin and VITA-press Publishing Firm offered me to write a sequel to the original fairy tales
and inventions from Potryaskin the cat. However, I slightly changed the format.
First, I suggested making not a collection of short stories, but one full-fledged fairy tale story
for one full book. As the story progresses, the characters encounter problems that the reader is
asked to solve (the answer choices are given in mirror print).
Second, I tried a diversity in approach. One book was written based on the famous fairy tale
"The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats" [10]. That is, so that the reader was attracted not only to
the familiar form of the fairy tale plot, but also to the familiar characters. And the second book
was based on my author's story of Potryaskin the cat's quest for the fruit of the magic tree [11].
This was done to give the reader a choice, to play on the basis of a long-familiar story or,
conversely, if the old tales are already boring, welcome to a new one.
Third, I've included more exercises in the stories, tasks that are not only semantic, but also
visual. These are coloring books. The reader is encouraged to finish drawing, to imagine. In
creating the book were solved several contradictions, for example, how to make the book both
a full coloring book, but also a colorful book? The solution – some part of each illustration was
left in black and white, and another was colored by the artist.
Two books were published in 1,000 copies each. I want to emphasize that these are basically
fiction books, the kind that will not confuse a reader unfamiliar with TRIZ pedagogy, but will
allow him or her to softly get in touch with the topic. Inventive problems and exercises are
woven into the story. TRIZ concepts and tools are not given directly, but are mentioned in the
introduction, thus creating an entry point for a new audience that has not been familiar with
TRIZ at all before.
2.4 Partnering with a children's channel on YouTube
The popularization of TRIZ and the search for new formats has borne fruit. I was contacted by
the creators of a popular YouTube channel for children, Aleksandr and Anna Kondratevs. At
that time, 2018-2019, the number of subscribers to their channel was about 5 million users.
They made videos with their two daughters about various family activities and adventures.
However, they wanted to produce better and more useful content that would not only entertain,
but also develop children's abilities, both mental and creative. So for four years now I've been
working as a script and lyrics writer and idea creator for their children's channel, and since then
Proceedings of MATRIZ Official International Conference ITC-2023. August 30 – September 2, 2023
279
the audience has grown to 23 million subscribers. We create useful videos, some of which are
aimed at instilling in children the habit of thinking creatively, finding different solutions to
problems, and developing imagination. The age of the audience is very small, about 5-6 years
old, so the topics are chosen to be simple.
For example, the video about how the little sister lost her rattle and the older sister came up
with different options of what to make a rattle by herself, using improvised resources (13 mil-
lion views) [12].
Or a video about a family celebrating the New Year in a hot country, but wanting to create a
winter mood. The characters come up with many ways to solve this open task, how to make
snow on their own, how to make frost on the windows, how to make a snowman (668 thousand
views) [13].
We also create videos that include imaginative exercises, such as the song "What do you see"
(27 million views) [14], in which parents and children being on the road play a game of imagi-
nation and guess what a cloud or the crown of a tree looks like. A successful format was simple
songs in which certain meanings could be incorporated. For example, the game "What do you
see in this shape" is easily remembered by the words: "Outside the window you can find a tree!
One, two, three… What do you see?" or "Outside the window you can find a cloud! What do
you see? Say it aloud!"
Unfortunately, the collaborative format imposes limitations on me in the sense that there is no
opportunity to get feedback from the audience, no opportunity to cover TRIZ directly. But
YouTube as a potential platform for popularization, as well as the formats of videos, sketches
and songs (at least, if we are talking about the youngest audience) - have shown themselves
well.
3. Conclusions
The aim of the paper was to demonstrate some of the developments and practices that I have
managed to implement within the framework of TRIZ and TRIZ-pedagogy popularization. Of
course, these are not all the projects in which I have been involved during the time I have been
working on this topic, that is, for the last 8 years. There were books, scripts and ideas that did
not see the light of day, at least not yet. But all my work has one thing in common. I believe
that the key to the large-scale popularization of TRIZ, TRIZ-pedagogy, creative and thinking
practices lies in the artistic approach.
First, when artistic means are involved, i.e. the plot, intrigue (if we are talking about texts), and
additionally visual range, emotions (if we are talking about video formats), the audience con-
nects not only intellectual qualities, but empathy with the characters, feelings, there is an inter-
est in knowing what will happen in the end. It gives an additional motivation.
Secondly, with an artistic approach it is possible to implement the principle of "there is no
teacher, but his function is performed". That is, the material itself delivers itself to the user
without an intermediary.
Thirdly, I have an assumption that it is the artistic format (as well as the game format) that is
the future of pedagogy.
I plan to continue developing within this approach, looking for new forms and means, and
hopefully someday I will be able to share the following results with the TRIZ community.
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280
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Anatoly Guin for introducing me to the world of TRIZ pedagogy, to my father
Sergei Faer, a TRIZ master who has been laying the foundations of my TRIZ thinking since
childhood, and to all the colleagues with whom I have had the honor to work in my professional
path.
References
1. Guin A.A. Young Inventor's Fairy Tales by Cat Potryaskin, Moscow, VITA Press, 2002.
2. Cartoon "TRIZ with Potryaskin the Cat". 2016.
https://youtu.be/EjHuK-f40so
3. Cartoon feedback questionnaire. 2016
https://paramult.ru/triz/
4. TRIZ and Cat project on Facebook. 2018-2023
https://www.facebook.com/trizikot/
5. TRIZ and Cat project on Vkontakte. 2018-2023
https://vk.com/trizikot
6. Quest from TRIZ and Cat. 2018
https://www.facebook.com/groups/159989291280623
7. Faer A., Buyanova E. Development of Creative Thinking. Part I. Smart cards for parents. A
set of games for the development of imagination and fantasy, Moscow, SOLON Press, 2020.
8. Faer A., Buyanova E. Development of Creative Thinking. Part II. Smart cards for parents. A
set of games for the development of imagination and fantasy, Moscow, SOLON Press, 2020.
9. Faer A., Buyanova E. Development of Creative Thinking. Part III. Smart cards for parents. A
set of games for the development of imagination and fantasy, Moscow, SOLON Press, 2020.
10. Faer A.S. Adventurous Tasks. Potryaskin the Cat and the Seven Little Goats, Moscow, VITA
Press, 2020.
11. Alice Faer: Adventurous Tasks. Potryaskin the Cat and Magical fruits of the Kus-Kus tree,
Moscow, VITA Press, 2020.
12. YouTube video – Children’s open task: How to make a rattle, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDbfAncLo6c
13. YouTube video – Children’s open task: How to create winter look, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgjBF8B4FwA
14. YouTube video – Children’s imagination exercise: Look for shapes in clouds and trees, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXE7o79GMVU
Communicating Author: Alisa Faer, faer.alisa@gmail.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
TRIZ AS A SOURCE OF TOOLS FOR FUTURE
EDUCATION
Alla Nesterenko
Abstract
An important aspect of modern education is, in our opinion, working with the future. A modern person
needs to remember that the world is constantly changing, to be able to build an image of the future
in the field of knowledge with which he works. In the paper, we will touch upon how TRIZ tools help
to predict changes in the world around us. We will discuss how it relates to formal education. We will
present the experience of using these approaches in our work with teenagers.
Keywords: TRIZ, OTSM-TRIZ, education, future, teenagers, Three Worlds Model
1. Evolution of Education – Where Are We Today?
The education system is an inertial system, it changes slowly and lags behind the rapidly changing
world. The new approaches, which proclaim the focus on the formation of key competences instead
of subject-specific skills, are struggling to make their way into real schools around the world.
The traditional approach to education can be summarised by the formula 'society teaches you what it
thinks you need to learn and does it in ways that are effective from its point of view'. Hence a rather
rigid approach to the formation of content, choice of methods and means of education. Society's
retreat from democracy often leads to a tightening of this principle. An example of this is the current
educational situation in Russia and Belarus, where any variability is consistently eliminated.
In contrast to traditional education, innovations are usually associated with the "learner-
centred" approach, with giving students freedom of choice in various parameters, from forms
and modes of learning to freedom in the selection of content. In practice, this is realised through
game and project-based learning scenarios oriented towards solving specific problems relevant
for pupils. However, it is not only the focus on individualisation and variation that determines
the future of education.
The reasons for changes in the content of education are well described through the change of
information barriers. According to the concept developed by V.M. Glushkov, the contradiction
between the information demands of society and its technical capabilities to provide
information was solved in different ways in different periods of civilisation development [9].
The first information barrier was the invention of writing, which made it possible to store
information. This made it possible to record knowledge and activities and to transmit them in
the process of teaching.
The second is associated with the invention of printing. This made it possible to disseminate
knowledge widely. Accordingly, it created conditions for the emergence of schools with a
common educational content.
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The second is associated with the invention of printing. This made it possible to disseminate knowledge
widely. Accordingly, it created conditions for the emergence of schools with a common educational
content.
The third barrier was overcome by the emergence of computers capable of collecting and pro-
cessing large amounts of information, but unable to interpret them in a meaningful way. Today
we see the active introduction of information technologies into the school curriculum. This
dramatically increases the volume and quality of information available to schoolchildren, al-
lows for more complete feedback in the process of mastering skills, and creates conditions for
individualization of education. However, in our opinion, the education system has not yet fully
coped with the third information barrier. Teaching schoolchildren the technologies of infor-
mation search and computer data processing should have changed the concept of education. But
this is happening slowly and has not yet become a common practice, despite some successful
cases, such as the experiments of Indian scientist Sugata Mitra [7].
Probably, today, with the emergence of neural networks, we are approaching the fourth infor-
mation barrier, when data are not just collected and processed according to predetermined al-
gorithms, but on their basis meaningful selections are made (for example, collections of exam-
ples on a chosen topic - what in TRIZ is called "information banks"), problems are solved, and
unique artistic texts are created.
What will the education of the future look like? What is the place of TRIZ in this new picture?
What can (and should) we do today to bring this future closer? Let us identify the trends that
seem significant to us and determine what role TRIZ-based technologies can play in their de-
velopment.
2. Some Approaches Implementing Education for the Future
2.1 Functional Approach
The traditional approach considers the content of education as separate academic disciplines:
maths, native/foreign language, physics, biology, history, etc. Each discipline is built on a cer-
tain system of concepts, and its separate study allows to transfer this system to pupils. Any
attempt to switch to other ways of content formation, for example, problem-centered or object-
of-interest-centered, destroys the system of concepts built in the usual way.
An alternative is the functional approach. Here the system of concepts is formed depending on
the problem that the pupil needs to solve. For example, when trying to understand how time is
presented in a language through a verb, the student finds the essential parameters that form the
category of tense in that particular language. In order to learn in this way, it is important for the
student to understand how the knowledge system is organized and to be able to enter this system
from a particular problem situation.
The development of the functional approach in the long term will lead us away from static,
slowly changing, subject content to the acquisition of general ways of acquiring the knowledge
and skills needed to solve a particular problem. It is these general ways that will become the
main content of education.
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How can TRIZ help here?
Within the framework of problem-oriented learning based on OTSM-TRIZ, universal models
are selected and developed to help students understand how knowledge is organized. We use a
system of models taken from OTSM and TRIZ and adapted to the learning tasks [4,6,10].
19
The information block of this system of models is represented by three levels. At the lower
level, objects of the surrounding world are learnt through their parameters. Concepts consist of
parameters. Each parameter has a name and values. Any object can be described through an
infinite number of parameters. Depending on the tasks to be solved, different parameters have
different values. Parameters are connected with each other by systemic and cause-and-effect
relations.
At the next level, by considering the object as a tool for something, performing a certain func-
tion, we select the parameters that are important for the fulfilment of this function. It is also
important for us to consider the object in a system hierarchy and in development, in order to
understand how the function itself and the object that delivers it - the function carrier - will
change.
At a higher level there are tools that allow to transform objects in the course of problem solving:
problem model - contradiction, solution model - ideal final result (IFR), methods and techniques
for solving contradictions and resources that allow to move from the solution model to concrete
transformations.
Thus, we see an opportunity to build a meta-subject content of education oriented to the trans-
formation of the world.
2.2 Polymodelling
One of the functions of education has traditionally been the formation of a certain picture of the
world. The key word here is "certain". Today it is necessary to operate with different pictures
of the world. Those who are familiar with practical psychology know that many problems are
solved more quickly and easily through metaphorical description of the world. Perhaps this
explains the interest of adolescents in building their own fantasy worlds, within which they
solve new problems and develop new relationships.
How can TRIZ help here?
All models of the information block work in different "worlds" described by the context block.
It also consists of three models.
2.2.1 Real World
19
OTSM-TRIZ - General Theory of Powerful Thinking based on TRIZ (N. Khomenko's version) is an
applied scientific theory that develops tools for managing sets of problems. These tools do not depend
on a specific field of knowledge and represent a kind of constructor that allows one to pave the way
from a problem to a solution. The idea to create the theory belongs to G.S. Altshuller, the author of
TRIZ.
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In the Real World model, the boundaries of parameter values are defined by real conditions. Its
study allows building scientific pictures of the world.
2.2.2 Fantasy World
In Fantasy Worlds, the values of parameters and connections between them can change at the
will of the author. Mastering such worlds allows students to do many mental experiments. By
analyzing the consequences of fantastic transformations, children learn to anticipate the results
of the changes they want to implement in the real world. This is important because today’s
technologies allow a single person to do things that not so long ago were available only to large
production plants, which means that every person should be able to foresee and evaluate the
consequences of the realization of their ideas.
2.2.3 Looking Glass
Looking Glass is a world of images, or metaphorical world, where the role of objects is played
by images. Describing situations through metaphors allows to show the essence of the problem
and understand where to look for a solution. This technique is widely used today in practical
psychology. By teaching students to build a world of images, we give them a powerful tool for
solving their own problems.
3. It is more important to pose a problem than to solve it
Modern schoolchildren will provide for their everyday life by creating clothes, transport, home
furnishings, and possibly the house itself using a 3D printer. And if yesterday it seemed to us
that for this purpose it is necessary to have a deep knowledge of design and engineering, today
it is obvious that the solution of most of the tasks will be taken over by a neural network. What
is left for man in this connection? Probably, the ability to set new problems "in the human
dimension" will become especially important. Not to predict the next steps in the development
of technology and scientific concepts (the neural network will also cope with this), but to find
and implement those needs that will make man more human.
How can TRIZ help here?
Obviously, we should refer to the Theory of Creative Personality Development (TRTL) [8],
specifically to the research in the field of formation of a worthy goal and upward strategy de-
scribing the options for changing goals. But this, in my opinion, is not enough for teaching
schoolchildren to set and reach their own goals. The problem is that only a mature person who
is conscious of himself/herself as a personality and as part of the world can set and reach the
goals that will help society to become a better place. A person who is able to keep in focus the
contradictions that inevitably confront everyone who makes responsible decisions, to live with
these contradictions, and to be ready to solve them when it becomes possible to find or create
the necessary resources. The question of educating such a person is not solved within the frame-
work of a single scientific theory. TRTL is no exception.
The presented problems create an outline for answering the question: "What should a "chil-
dren's" TRIZ teacher do today? What to teach children and adolescents using appropriate tools?
I do not have a ready answer to this question, but I have experience in developing and testing
several topics in a course for teenagers.
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3.1 Developing a Course for Teenagers
I work with a small group of five students, now they are 12-14 years old. They have been
studying elements of TRIZ and OTSM since they were 6-7 years old. They do not go to school,
they are home-schooled. We meet twice a week. One session is to support learning of the school
syllabus, the other one - to build competences. To analyze and solve problems we use the model
system described above.
I got some of the ideas for the trainings from Lika Chekalova's online course "Future Thinking",
and some of them I developed myself in co-operation with colleagues from the online schools
"Knowledge Workshops" and "Lenguateca".
Below are the topics we have studied in the last two academic years.
3.2 Learning and Life
This section was aimed at identifying and solving their own problems arising in the learning
process.
The experience of teaching a group of 12–14-year-olds shows that working on one's own prob-
lems, understanding and correcting one's behavior when faced with a problem is a relevant topic
for students of this age. TRIZ offers tools for problem solving. Psychology teaches to recognize
and describe personal resources. TRIZ suggests how these resources can be transformed to ob-
tain a solution. As a result, the pupil has a desire to deal with his/her problems and a chance to
develop his/her own strategy for analyzing and solving them.
3.3 Fantasy Worlds
Here we have been building worlds based on fantastic assumptions.
We chose a fantastic assumption and described how it would change the world. For example,
"The world is developing, but without the Internet", "People have learnt to photosynthesize",
"People hibernate in winter", "Half of humanity can live only at positive air temperatures and
the other half only at negative temperatures", "There are no predators in the world", "People
periodically fall into time holes". The pupils suggested the topics themselves.
According to the teenagers' assessments, it was a valuable experience for them to consider sit-
uations in artificially created worlds through the construction of cause-and-effect chains. In this
way, problems were identified, which we then tried to solve. The solutions were considered in
three directions, answering the following questions:
• Can the environment itself be changed so that the problem is solved?
• Can the rules of interaction in society be changed?
• Is it possible to change a person, his psychology or physiology?
In each direction, solutions were sought using TRIZ tools.
3.4 Building an Image of the Future
We studied objects of the future, technologies of the future, sets of problems that are important
to solve in the future.
When studying objects, we used the Laws of Technical Systems Evolution formulated in TRIZ.
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When studying technologies, we paid special attention to the ways of obtaining and transform-
ing energy.
We also learnt to use neural networks to obtain the information we needed.
We started working with sets of problems at the end of the school year. In the future, I will try
to organize this work based on the experience gained from building fantasy worlds: cause-and-
effect chains, identifying key problems, solving them in three directions: changing the environ-
ment, changing the rules in society, changing the person.
We ended the school year with reports on topics chosen by the teenagers. The topics were dif-
ferent: improving the lives of stray cats in the future, walls of houses in the future, development
of jewelry, development of sports shoes, positive development of hacking.
The students noted that thinking about the future is difficult but interesting. This process re-
quires tools, and TRIZ has them. The most impressive tools turned out to be the causal networks
and the S-curve of systems evolution.
4. Problems and Perspectives
I will outline the problems I encountered in the process of developing the content described
above.
The problem of teaching to analyze the situation. Today the "big picture" of the situation and
the choice of "points of growth" are more important than analyzing and solving specific prob-
lems, because we have reliable tools for decomposing and solving specific problems in ARIZ,
function analysis, TRIZ-analysis and other technologies, but there are no reliable enough tools
for analyzing the situation as a whole.
The problem of developing imagination as a basis for prediction. Even my students, who have
completed many assignments from the course of creative imagination development, who read
and try to compose science fiction and fantasy, initially found it difficult to describe the altered
worlds.
Teaching to build cause-and-effect chains is closely related to the development of imagination
- without imagining a situation, it is impossible to predict its consequences.
Building a reliable bridge to the formal education system. We will inevitably come to an ap-
proach in education in which the study of specific topics from certain subject areas will be seen
by the student as the development of resources needed to solve problems that they have set or
accepted. This approach needs to be developed, and today it is advisable to do it within the
framework of additional educational courses.
In the future, it is possible to plan a system of courses under the general title "The Future". The
attempt to predict the world of the future and ourselves in it opens up a whole range of direc-
tions.
• Think of or anticipate solutions that will change the world.
• Imagine this changed world in detail.
• Find your place in the world, figure out what you want to do.
• Figure out what you need to do today to take that place tomorrow. To build a bridge
from today's self to tomorrow's self.
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Functional approach, polymodelling and problem-solving will be the basic approaches in this
system of courses, and the system of problem-oriented learning models will be the basic set of
tools.
References
1. Jonas Svava Iversen. Futures thinking methodologies – options relevant for “schooling for
tomorrow” https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/35393902.pdf Last accessed: August 18,
2023.
2. Khomenko N.N. , Sokol A. New models and methodology for teaching OTSM-
TRIZ http://www.trizminsk.org/eng/h_s.htm Last accessed: August 18, 2023.
3. Khomenko N, Murashlovska I. Third millennium: the driving contradiction and other
problems of education (2003) https://otsm-triz.org/en/content/knn_in_en Last accessed:
August 18, 2023.
4. Khomenko N. “Super Short Introduction into Classical TRIZ and OTSM (2012) https://otsm-
triz.org/en/content/super_short_intr_en Last accessed: August 18, 2023.
5. Korzun A.V. “OTSM-TRIZ as a Technology of Training the Expert in Education” (2007)
https://jlproj.org/this_bibl_e/pedkollej_ETRIA_eng.pdf Last accessed: August 18, 2023.
6. Nesterenko A.A. “The OTSM-TRIZ Based System of Models for Teaching Students to
Organize Their Thinking” (2005) https://www.jlproj.org/this_bibl_e/AN5ETRIA.pdf Last
accessed: August 18, 2023.
7. The Child-Driven Education by Sugata Mitra (2012)
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120626-the-child-driven-education Last accessed:
August 18, 2023.
8. Altshuller G., Vertkin I. “How to become a genius” (Original title: “Kak stat geniyem”),
Minsk, 1994. (in Russian)
9. Informational Barrier: Wikipedia https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Информационный_барьер (in
Russian) Las accessed: August 18, 2023
10. Nesterenko A.A. “Knowledge Workshop: Teaching Manual”. — М., BookInFile,
2013 (Original title: “Masterskaya Znaniy: Uchebno-Metodicheskoye Posobie”) (in Russian)
Communicating author: Alla Nesterenko, allatriz@gmail.com
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
“NATURE HAS NO BAD WEATHER”
OR REASONING ABOUT ANSWERS TO OPEN-
ENDED PROBLEMS
Evgenia Guin
Abstract
TRIZ teachers widely use open-ended problems to develop critical and creative thinking of their
students. When working with this type of tasks teachers find it difficult to evaluate the chil-
dren’s answers. This article is devoted to the discussion of evaluation problems.
Keywords: open-ended problems, evaluation, TRIZ
1. Introduction
„Nature has no bad weather.” - says a popular wisdom.
In TRIZ-pedagogy it is often said that “There is no wrong answer to a problem”. Let's leave the
weather to the weather forecasters, but in this article I propose to discuss the situation with
problems and answers in TRIZ-pedagogy. I will be happy to get some feedback from my col-
leagues, there is a lot to talk about!
2. Types of Tasks
TRIZ-teachers use research and inventive open-ended tasks to develop creative and critical
thinking.
3. Examples of Inventive Problems
3.1 Not up, but down
“How good it is to be able to fly!” - many people dream. But it's not so easy to visualize that
dream.
One author wrote a book for children whose main characters, ordinary boys and girls, could fly.
The book became super-popular.
It seemed perfect. But no. Many young admirers of the book's characters tried to repeat this
“trick” after the idols, jumping from a height. Alas, in the real world it was impossible to take
off, and the children were injured.
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The writer learned about this problem and wanted to fix it. He was just working on a new edition
of the book. So, what would he change so that children would stop “flying down”? You can't
remove flying children from the book altogether: it would ruin the whole plot. But we must
make sure that the children don't repeat the characters' flights.
How would you advise solving this contradiction?
3.2 Too Realistic
The “Homeless Jesus” statue by a Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz depicts Jesus as a home-
less man sleeping on a bench.
In 2013, the sculpture was installed in Toronto. And now more than a hundred copies have
spread around the world.
This statue is very realistic, which also leads to some problems.
Sometimes, especially on dark evenings, people mistake it for a person sleeping on a bench.
This mistake has consequences: indifferent passersby call emergency services to help a home-
less person. Such calls are especially common in freezing temperatures.
Suggest what the owners of the statues should do, so that while preserving the idea and quality
of the sculpture, to save the services from false calls.
Figure 1. Homeless Jesus
As can be seen from the examples above, the very formulation of such a problem implies that
there may be several solutions. Does this mean that all of them are equivalent?
Research problems are problems aimed at finding an explanation for something mysterious or
incomprehensible.
4. Example of a Research Problem
4.1 Some Lemon?
Many people love the sour taste of lemon. Especially when combined with other flavors.
But... have you ever wondered what good the lemon itself does!
Why did it evolve to be sour?!
All the other fruits are sweet. And it's understandable: they want to be eaten so that animals and
birds take their seeds further away from the parent tree.
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So why did the lemon choose a different strategy?!
For most educational research problems, science already has an answer, and it can be found on
the Internet and in books. But in TRIZ-pedagogy we call for allowing children to discover
knowledge themselves through problem solving. This implies independently putting forward
many hypotheses and analyzing them.
So, is there or is there not a “right” answer to open-ended problems and what to do with the rest
of the answers?
5. Control Answer
In TRIZ-pedagogy, the term “control answer” is widely used, for inventive problems it stands
for the answer that has been realized historically, in the story on which the problem is written.
However, we encourage educators not to “drag” children to the control answer, but to motivate
them to look for multiple strong solutions. While evaluating it is not considered correct to add
points for matching the control answer.
That is, the control answer is just one of the solutions to the problem, some kind of historical
solution. But do agree that the word "control" implies that this is a sample for verification, for
control! It turns out that there is a clear contradiction between the name and the essence.
I think there is a need to think of another name for this answer.
The following seem reasonable to me: historical answer, original answer, existing answer, plot
answer, real answer (children most often ask “What's the real answer?”), E-answer (existing
answer).
What do you think? It would be very interesting to hear colleagues' opinions on this.
In research problems, the control answer is the generally accepted scientific explanation. Alt-
hough there are open research problems, far from science, when the mystery is in someone's
mind. In this case, the answer can no longer be called scientific. Here is an example of such a
problem:
Unexpected Care
Throughout the eighteenth century in North America there were protracted wars between the
colonists and the Indians. However, it is known that the English provided the Indians with warm
blankets. Why did they do this since the Indians were their enemies?
What do you call a known answer to such a problem? Historical answer? Real answer? Known
answer? Existing answer? Available answer? Original answer?
Is it important for the teacher to find it with the students, or even just to tell them after the
problem has been solved, if the known answer hasn't been found?
I think it is. To increase erudition; after all, that is one of the goals of teaching.
Later in this article, I will replace the term “control answer” with “available answer”.
6. Multiple Answers
As mentioned above, for an open-ended problem, there may be many other alternatives besides
the available answer. How do we compare them, and do we need to? How to choose the best
one? Can there be “wrong” answers with this approach?
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I believe that it is necessary to analyze the answers, compare them and evaluate them. This is
the only way to cultivate a responsible attitude toward your decisions and develop critical think-
ing. Otherwise, we will get rampant divergence, where it is more important to say than to think.
This is why I think that the “we have no wrong answers” approach is wrong. Wrong answers
are those that do not consider limitations, that do not solve the problem, that do harm.
For example, the ideas “Put the sculpture of Jesus upright” or “Build a transparent dome around
the bench” for the “Too realistic” problem are not right answers, because they destroy the au-
thor's intent.
In TRIZ-pedagogy it is proposed to evaluate ideas according to the criteria of practicality (co-
efficient of ideality) and originality. But the evaluations turn out to be very subjective. Even in
the case of historical problems, we cannot always evaluate the efficiency of an idea, the evalu-
ations turn out to be “smeared”, which is demotivating. When it is not clear whether your idea
is good or not, when you are not sure of the result, you want to solve less. For example, in the
task “Not up, but down” if the author decides to write in the preface to the book that magic
works only in the magic world and do not try to repeat it at home, will the boys and girls listen
to him or not? And if he adds stories about kids crashing in the real world, will that solve the
problem or vice versa? And if it says that the magic only worked in the presence of adults?
Wouldn't that ruin the whole story?
In addition, the very knowledge that there is an answer reduces the desire of students to come
up with a lot of options, they try to guess the answer that will certainly solve the problem. And
it is clear why: it is certainly "correct", you can experience the desired feeling of "I've solved
it! I got it!".
So how can TRIZ educators find a balance? On the one hand, leave a plurality of options. On
the other hand, give rigor and confidence in evaluating the results.
Figure 2. Contradiction
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It seems to me that practical problems, where all ideas are immediately tested in practice, are
ideal for solving this contradiction. For example, the classic inventive problem “How to throw
a chicken egg from two meters away so that it doesn't break?” Here you can test in practice all
sorts of ideas and experience the most real excitement and frustration. No more arguments,
checks against the written “right answer” and hypothetical evaluations.
However, this solution significantly narrows the range of problems available for solving.
Another solution can be to add to the lesson logical tasks for ingenuity, in which the answer is
non-trivial, but the only one.
Example of a single-answer task for ingenuity
Continue the sequence:
1
11
21
1211
111221
....
This solution adds an important sense of confidence to the lesson, but it does not help in eval-
uating solutions to open-ended problems.
How else can you solve this contradiction? Share your experiences!
4. Conclusions
Open-ended problems have many advantages: they teach students to think, to look for solutions
in a situation of uncertainty, to analyze their ideas; they form the habit of seeing problems as
challenges and prepare kids for solving life problems.
However, when solving them regularly with students, various problems arise in terms of eval-
uating ideas and attitudes toward a pre-known answer:
- How do you evaluate solutions to open-ended problems that can't be tested?
- Are there wrong answers to a creative problem?
- How to motivate children to look for other solutions rather than strive to find only the existing
answer?
- How to name a solution to a problem that is already known?
- How to give a sense of confidence in one's solution, a sense of completion?
Share your ideas on how to solve the above pedagogical challenges!
Available Answers to the Problems Used in this Article
Not up, but down
That's how the Tinker Bell fairy got her pixie dust.
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The problem we described was solved by James Barry, the author of the Peter Pan books. When
he found out about the trauma of children who imitated Wendy and her brothers taking off from
their beds, he realized that something had to change. And he came up with a prerequisite for
flying that no real child could fulfill: pixie dust.
Too Realistic
This problem has no existing implemented answer. But I think solutions like this are strong:
- Coating Jesus' cape with a transparent compound that glows in the dark. This would only
reinforce the idea of a divine origin. The “light” resource could be used in other ways: brightly
illuminate the bench, add contour lighting, add a glowing crown of thorns, place a lantern (only
visible at night) in the hood, etc.
- Raise the bench to a pedestal.
Some Lemon?
It's not an easy issue with lemon. Especially because it is not exactly known whether it was
nature or man-made selection that made the lemon so sour.
Let's assume that it is nature. What is the reason? There are two answers.
1. Perhaps the lemon just doesn't want to be eaten. It creates a heavy fruit, which, when it
falls to the ground, will roll away from the trunk. And there it will begin to rot, releasing
the seeds. Its juicy pulp will provide the seeds with moisture and nutrients for the first
time, and its sour taste will deter animals.
2. The second hypothesis is more interesting and is formulated after observing many sour
fruits, such as berries. It turns out that both animals and birds are not at all squeamish
about sour fruits when they run out of sweet ones. They eat lemons, cranberries, wild
gooseberries, and many other sour fruits. So, what happens to the seeds next, after they
are eaten? They enter the stomach with hydrochloric acid! This adventure is not for the
faint of heart (that is, not for the thin-skinned). Herein lies the clue: sour pulp reduces
the production of hydrochloric acid, as the nerves responsible for its secretion respond
to the overall acidity in the stomach. And the seeds have a chance to come out after
traveling through the gastrointestinal tract without damage. That's why the lemon, with
its soft seed peel, just needs sour fruit.
Unexpected Care
In 1763 General Jeffrey Amherst ordered blankets contaminated with smallpox to be sent to the
Indians. The outbreak wiped out thousands of Indians, for whom the unprecedented infection
was far more dangerous than for the Europeans who had long lived side by side with it.
Continue the Sequence
Each successive line describes the preceding one:
One digit 1 (1)
One digit 1 (11)
Two digits 1 (21)
etc.
A line to add should be 312211
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
CASE-STUDY: USING TRIZ TOOLS TO STREAM-
LINE LESSON PLANNING AND PREPARATION
AND SAVE TEACHER’S TIME AND EFFORT
Maria Dunaeva
Abstract
For many English language teachers lesson preparation is normally a lengthy process often taking up
more time than the lesson itself. Modern coursebooks that are abundant in material do not solve the
problem, but only make matters worse. This work will focus on several practical examples of how the
use of some TRIZ tools can simplify and accelerate some aspects of lesson planning while increasing
the quality of teaching and students' engagement.
Keywords: lesson planning and preparation, private teacher, multi-screen diagram, resources, low-
prep, save time and effort
1. Introduction - What Is Streamlining?
At the beginning of my teaching career, lesson planning was quite a time-consuming process for me. In
extreme cases, I spent more time getting ready for the lessons than running them. So looking for ways to
make this part of my professional life easier, I found some of the TRIZ tools useful.
According to Cambridge English Dictionary, when something is being streamlined it becomes more simple
and effective at the same time. Therefore, my goal was to minimise the lesson planning stage without
sacrificing my students’ results in the process.
2. Main Body
As teaching is a ‘contact sport’, in my search for solutions, I turned to
1) the learner as one side of the process
2) myself (the teacher) as the other side of the process
3) and what was going on between N1 and N2, i.e. the teaching/learning process
Why is it important?
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1) I am sure that the success of a teacher is measured by how far their students get. So my ultimate
goal as a teacher is to enable my students to communicate in those situations that are important
to them.
2) Students are people with their own goals and plans, needs and expectations, their own cognitive
abilities, mindset and background etc. that serve as natural limitations to English language teach-
ing, on one hand, and resources, on the other.
Applying a Multi-Sreen Diagram
It did not take me long to realise that a multi-screen diagram offers a holistic approach to learn-
ers’ needs analysis. So with my goal in mind, I wrote a list of questions about the factors that
can help or hinder learning.
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What supersystems was the
learner a part of in the past that
influenced their learning?
- Where and how they
learned the language?
- Where they used the lan-
guage and what was
easy/what was difficult?
- What were their relations
with the teacher: produc-
tive or unproductive, was
there a lot of teacher en-
gagement or was the stu-
dent quite independent?
What supersystems is the
learner part of?
Are they supportive or unsupport-
ive to language acquisition/learn-
ing?
If they are supportive, to what ex-
tent can they be used?
Is the student the only beneficiary
of his skills (or is there anyone else
involved: parents/teachers)
What supersystems will the
learner be a part of in the future
when they have reached their
goal?
What will they do there?
Who and where will they use a lan-
guage?
The learner at a younger age.
The learner:
How old is he?
The learner in his point of destina-
tion
The subsystems in the past that
influenced his learning style:
- what were his likes/dis-
likes in terms of activities
- any habits developed
then (a way to work with
words to remember them)
- expectations from the
learning process and the
teacher
What subsystems are important
for learning?
the starting point (point A):
where is the learner now
compared to where he
wants to be?
cognitive abilities
cognitive constraints, if any
learning style
agency
interests and hobbies
dislikes
what truly motivates the
learner
mindset about learning
the sensitivity area
does he prefer working alone
or in a group
What subsystems are important
to get there?
- the skills that the learner
will need to develop
- the lexical topics that he
will need to cover
- some additional dreams
and wishes they have
(in addition to the main
aim and even distant from
them)
Some of these questions can be answered before the start of the lessons, which saves a lot of
time and effort and makes the learning process more comfortable for a learner straight away. I
use a questionnaire in Google.forms, which I send to candidates or their parents, or ask those
questions in a telephone conversation when someone applies for the lessons. Yet, it is worth
noting that some questions (of a psychological nature) can only be covered accurately after a
certain amount of classroom observation. So it is good to approach learner needs analysis as a
continuous process rather than a one-off event.
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Such thorough analysis helps avoid a lot of trial and error and keep a focus on the student as an individual,
building on strengths and helping to overcome or minimise weaknesses. In the case of teaching ESP
(English for special purposes), this saves a lot of time, effort and money as students can reach their goals
faster if they are open to collaboration.
2.3 Focus On What Happens Between a Teacher and a Learner
As a result of learner needs analysis, I get an understanding of what I am going to teach and
how I am going to do this. I choose the teaching approach (whether I would regard the language
as a grammaticalised lexis or lexical grammar, which I often link to the learner’s expectations
and cognitive abilities).
For example, with AD(H)D learners, that have very short attention slots and find it hard to
concentrate for too long, I would prefer using the lexical approach and teaching the language
in chunks as in this way it is easier for them to memorise the new target language. At the same
time, with older learners who went to Soviet schools, I would rather start with ‘gram-
mar+words=production” approach as that is what they are biased towards.
Within ‘what you teach’ and ‘how you do it’ there is a wide variety of room for simplifying the
work of the teacher. Below is one example of a low-prep way to teach vocabulary to low-level
students:
When we teach vocabulary to low levels, we have to make learners deal with the same set of
words (for example six words on one topic) for quite a while. The problem is that after I have
introduced the meaning of the words, I need my students to look at the same set of words, listen
to the same set of words and repeat them many times without getting bored and disconnecting
so that they can retain the target vocabulary in their memory. So how can a teacher get a low-
prep variety of activities out of the same set of words in a low-prep way?
It comes from focusing on the different aspects of the target vocabulary (meaning; pronuncia-
tion and form) + using Wordwall online teaching tools:
Step 1: A fun and engaging focus on meaning comes from a Memo (Pelmanism) game. It makes
students look at the words many times and memorise them. The game contains a set of target
words (for example nouns that we use to name things inside the house) and a set of pictures
representing each of these words.
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Fig. 1. Activity screenshot from Wordwall
How to play: Each student needs to flip over two cards at a time. If they match, he keeps them
and gets a point. If the cards belong to a different set, they are flipped back automatically and
other players can flip over any one of them if they want to. The game is played until there are
no cards left. The winner is the player with most of the cards.
It can be used with students in a group, competing against each other, in one-to-one lessons
when a student competes against the teacher or when student plays alone against the time.
In Step 2 the words (and cards) are still the same. This time, however, the focus is on pronun-
ciation via a game of “Stop (or Freeze)”.
Fig. 2. Activity Screenshot from Wordwall
How to play: There is a deck of picture-only cards. The teacher flips over the cards one by one
while pronouncing one of the words from the target vocabulary set. When students see the
picture matching the word, they shout ‘Stop’. The players that shout “Stop” at the right time,
get 1 point for it. The winner is the player with the biggest number of points.
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The game makes students listen to the words many times attentively.
For stronger students, there is a variation of the game which is called “Clever Parrots”.
How to play: The teacher shuffles the cards and flips over the cards while pronouncing the
words from a vocabulary set in random order - one word for each card. As clever parrots, stu-
dents repeat only those words that match the picture and keep silent when a word and a picture
do not match.
An additional advantage of using Wordwall for this purpose is the fact that there is no need in
creating each game separately, the platform allows switching from one mode to the other, which
makes these activities truly low-prep.
On a separate note, games have been a real inspiration and time saver for me. In my view, there
is a lot of potential to use them to make lessons really engaging, while saving time and effort
for lesson preparation if the focus is on the the mechanics and mathematical model behind the
game rather than its content. There are some good games that are easily tailored to suit different
students’ interests so you get a wide variety of scenarios out of one game model
Why it is important:
I am sure that happy teachers, that are passionate about what they are doing and are fully aware
of what they are doing and why, can better serve their students.
It saves a lot of time and effort and become a very fulfilling experience if you know yourself
well enough and take the courage to build your teaching practice around your values and
strengths.
To analyse my own needs and goals, I use a multi-screen diagram with the following set ques-
tions to myself. As a disclaimer, I should note that this is still work in progress and some parts
of it need further development.
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What supersystems was I a
part of in the past that influ-
enced my teaching?
- Where did I study and
what was it like like?
Why it was like that?
- What kind of teachers
did I like? Why?
- What kind of teachers
did I not like? Why?
What supersystems am I part of
now (work/family/other)? And how
much time and effort does each of
them take?
career: Who do I teach?
What do I teach?/How do I teach?
Why do I teach the way I teach?
Who do I feel comfortable teach-
ing?/Who do I feel uncomfortable
teaching?
Who do I feel (un) comfortable to
work with?
Am I a part of any professional com-
munity?
family: Who do I live with? What are
my commitments? What are the op-
portunities and constraints related to
them?
others: What other supersystems am
I part of? Why?
How will the future of language
teaching change? Why? (the in-
fluence of AI etc.)
What part do I want to play in the
future of education?
What for?
What supersystems do I want to
be part of? What for?
Any foreseeable changes in the
family situation? How would they
influence my career goals?
How much time would I like to
spend on each of the supersys-
tems?
Me at a younger age
I’m now
(Point A)
I am at a certain date and time in
the future
(Point B)
The subsystems in the past
that could have an impact on
teaching:
- What was my mindset as
a learner like?
- What was easy or diffi-
cult in my learning experiences?
- any habits developed
then (both positive and nega-
tive)
- my expectations from the
learning process and the
teacher
What subsystems are important
for teaching?
- my professional skills
my values
my beliefs about teaching: help-
ful and unhelpful
what I am ok with
what I’m NOT ok with
my cognitive abilities, con-
straints and needs
my personal likes and dislikes
interests and hobbies
what brings me energy/what
drains me
What subsystems are important
to get there?
- skills that I need to de-
velop
- some additional dreams
and wishes I have
(in addition to the main
aim and even distant from
them)
- How are my beliefs/my
mindset?
- my health (how do I need
to take care of it to be
able to do my work well)
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I found it very useful to reflect on those questions, albeit it is probably a good idea not to address
all of them in one sitting. Looking back on my past experience as a learner helped me to uncover
my limiting beliefs and cognitive bias that impact my teaching and then take action to eliminate
and replace them with the ones I need to reach my goals. Keeping an eye on the future makes
me more flexible and proactive (in particular, I have learned to create ESP lessons on unfamiliar
topics from scratch using AI). Finally, as I get to know myself better, it takes much less effort
and time to attract those students that I am most productive with.
Conclusions
This paper is a very general attempt to bring together and outline three very big areas of
teachng/learning as a resource for streamlining teaching via the use of TRIZ tools so there is
still a lot of potential to dive deeper into each area, formulate IFRs and find more opportunities
to get the best out of students, yourself and the what is happening between you. As can be seen,
the three elements that have been described separately are closely interrelated. And the inter-
section of those is actually a place to look for new ideas. This interconnection also implies that
in practice the teacher will likely need more than one multi-screen diagram for different groups
of learners. What might seem as a lot of work and analysis at first sight, over time transforms
into a useful habit that shapes thinking and becomes part of a professional mindset. Apart from
that, such holistic approach to a teaching path helps to be proactive, see and leverage opportu-
nities rather than fall victim to circumstance.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Anatoly Guin for introducing me to the world of TRIZ pedagogy, to Alla
Nesterenko for her long-term program for teachers that I was a part of some years ago, and to
all the colleagues with whom I have been friends and worked.
References
1. Cambridge English Dictionary
2. Dellar H., Walkley A. “Teaching lexically. Principles and Practice”. Delta Development Se-
ries, 2016 Delta Publishing, pp. 10-11.
3. Wordwall (www.wordwall.net), an online teaching resource
4. MATRIZ Level 1 Training Manual, 2019.
https://matriz.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Level-1-Manual-Word.pdf . Last accessed:
July 30, 2019
5. Нестеренко (Селюцкая) А. “Мастерская знаний: проблемно-ориентированное обучение
на базе ОТСМ-ТРИЗ”, учебно-методическое пособие для педагогов, 2013 г. Book in File,
Moscow
Communicating author: Maria Dunaeva
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
USE OF METAPHORS TEACHING 6-9-YEAR-
OLD KIDS TO SOLVE CREATIVE TASKS USING
THE ADAPTED ALGORITHM FOR CHILDREN
Nadezhda Zhuravleva
Abstract
In my presentation I will talk about my years of experience in teaching preschool and elementary school
children to solve open-ended problems.
There has been a lot of doubt if a preschooler can work according to an algorithm. A TRIZ specialist
Ekaterina Pchelkina designed DARIZ, Children's Inventive Problem Solving Algorithm, that can be
used starting at the age of 6. However, an educator faces with a lot of problems teaching small kids to
work according to an algorithm.
My experience shows that it is crucial to find the right metaphor that could be understandable to children
and motivating them to take action instead of giving up on the problem.
I am inviting you on a tour of my #NOPROBLEM Clinic, where I will tell you how it works. I will walk
you through the algorithm as trainees in our Clinic.
Keywords: preschoolers, adapted algorithms, metaphor, problem-solving
1. Using Adapted Algorithms: Questions and Doubts
The modern world is inherently fragile, restless, non-linear and incomprehensible. For educa-
tion, this poses the challenge of forming individuals capable of living successfully in such a
world. How to do this? How to teach to solve problems, to find a way out of "hopeless" situa-
tions?
TRIZ teachers do have answers to these questions.
In this article I will dwell on my years of experience in teaching preschool and elementary
school children to solve open-ended problems with the use of adapted algorithms.
When educators or parents start to teach problem-solving to kids, they apply adapted algo-
rithms, but still have a lot of doubts and questions.
1.1 Can a preschooler work according to an algorithm?
Decades of experience show that it is possible to teach preschoolers to solve problems using
adapted TRIZ algorithms, but you should work together on every step of an algorithm. In this
article I will share with you my 30-year experience of teaching TRIZ to young learners.
1.2 What is the best age to start learning problem-solving?
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At the age of 4 kids can start solving everyday problems that belong to their experience. For
example, how to keep warm? How to get a toy from the top of the closet or a balloon stuck to
the ceiling? With kids aged 5 you can start finding problems to solve in fairy tales or cartoons.
1.3 Where do we get problems to solve?
We normally draw on the kids’ experience. You can pick everyday tasks and make creative
problems out of them. One of the best sources of problems is a fairy tale. Why stories and fairy
tales? The answer is obvious: they keep the experience of humankind. You can take lots of
problems to solve from this source.
1.4 What if the child refuses?
How to make any child not only able but also willing to solve problems?
This activity should be interesting and attractive, so TRIZ teachers necessarily use a metaphor
and make the course plot-based. I will talk about my metaphors later on in this article.
1.5 Should we prompt and guide to a solution?
If you want to teach how to work according to an algorithm, you have to teach each stage
gradually. That is why at the first lessons children are in a hurry to give an answer at once, and
usually they have few solutions and do not try to analyze them. It is necessary to study the
algorithm step by step together with them, and at the same time analyze what knowledge they
lack.
2. Authors of techniques for teaching TRIZ to kids
2.1 Tatiana Sidorchuk
Tatyana Sidorchuk, educator, teacher trainer, Level IV TRIZ Specialist, was my first teacher.
In co-authorship with Nikolay Khomenko, developer of OTSM (TRIZ-based General Theory
of Powerful Thinking) she developed technological maps for teaching problem solving to pre-
schoolers. She has written over 200 manuals and articles on teaching TRIZ to young learners
[1]. I started to build my work on the recommendations of Tatiana Sidorchuk and Nikolay
Khomenko.
2.2 Ekaterina Pchelkina
Ekaterina Pchelkina, TRIZ Specialist and Executive Secretary of RA TRIZ (Russian Associa-
tion of TRIZ) in co-authorship with Alexander Kislov designed DARIZ, Children's Inventive
Problem Solving Algorithm [2]. This is the one I use in my work with preschoolers.
2.3 Alla Nesterenko
Alla Nesterenko, educator, teacher trainer Level IV TRIZ Specialist, has a well-developed
methodology of teaching TRIZ to younger schoolchildren. She has a lot of works devoted to
this very issue and teaches not only children, but also adults in her online school Knowledge
Workshop (Masterskaya Znaniy) [3].
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3. My First Metaphor
30 years ago I started to work with problem-solving in kindergarten. It was necessary to find
the right metaphor that would be understandable to children and would motivate them to take
action and embrace the problem as something positive instead of stupor from the mere word
"problem". And the image of a rescue worker suited me just fine. Children liked rescuing fairy-
tale characters. It is easier to solve other people's problems, so that life problems of fairy-tale
heroes make problem-solving a typical task, the answers to which the children have already
found.
The Rescuers worked according to the Children’s Algorithm DARIZ developed by Ekaterina
Pchelkina.
The work of the rescue service was organized as follows:
3.1 Warm-Up
To warm up, the children guessed the personage who needed rescue with the help of the Yes/No
game. Then they received a call from the hero in trouble and formulated a problem situation.
3.2 Conflict Pair
From the problem situation they chose a conflict pair and the problem to be solved.
3.3 IFR and Resources
We worked strictly according to the algorithm, starting with the formulation of the IFR (Ideal
Final Result), went through the resources and proposed solutions during brainstorming. Then
we fixed everything without analyzing.
3.4 Best Solution
After that we chose the best solution, i.e. the closest to the IFR, usually the only one.
3.5 Call Back
Finally, the kids called back the hero and told him/her how best to proceed. (Fig.1)
Fig. 1. Steps of the adapted Rescue Service algorithm
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The Rescue Service worked successfully for 30 years, until I turned into an online educator and
got keen on plot-based courses.
It should be noted that it was not always easy to solve the problem with the help of DARIZ and
to find the contradiction through the Conflict Pair. Besides, the metaphor of a Rescue Service
is not always understandable to children, although it is quite attractive.
4. New Metaphor for Storytelling
For my online course I designed a new plot and a brand-new metaphor. This is how our intern-
ship at the #NOPROBLEM Сlinic was successfully launched for online classes.
Let me tell you how it works. I will walk you through the trainee problem-solver's path to
familiarize you with the problem-solving algorithm. The main tool of our clinic is still the Chil-
dren's Inventive Problem Solving Algorithm (DARIZ). You can see it in the picture below.
(Fig. 2)
Fig. 2. Steps of the adapted algorithm at the #NOPROBLEM Clinic
The robot assistant offers the children a trainee card, on which you see the adapted steps of the
same algorithm.
4.1 Conflict Pair
At the Reception, the children figure out the Conflict Pair (CP), or "sour couple," as Ekaterina
Pchelkina calls it.
4.2 IFR
At the Chief Physician’s office, the IFR-in-chief issues an order that everything should happen
all by itself, that is, he formulates the Ideal Final Result, which will direct us to the desirable
solution.
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4.3 Research
In the research lab, each member of the Conflict Pair is described, and we select the attributes
that need to be changed to solve the problem.
4.4 Resources and Solutions
Doctors and trainees think how to change these attributes, that is, look for the resources of the
Conflict Pair and consider the resources of the environment to prescribe the right medicine, that
is, to propose a solution.
4.5 Evaluation
But before we go to the pharmacy, we have to evaluate each proposed medicine (i.e. solution)
with certain criteria. See the picture below.
Fig. 3. Evaluation criteria
This is what a trainee’s card, or roadmap, looks like. Kids easily memorize it and recall the
steps without any difficulties (Fig.4)
Fig. 4. Trainee’s Card
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After completing the internship, children receive a "Certificate of Problem Eliminator" and are
invited to the "Agency for Problem Elimination", where they will get practical experience in
solving not only everyday, but also fantastic open problems.
Productive activities are always used at the end of each lesson. Children are asked to draw their
best solution or the one that the whole group has chosen as the most effective. Drawing males
children think through the details of implementing their idea, sometimes helping them to change
it to a cheaper and more effective one.
5. Examples of Children’s Work
Let me show you some solutions that the kids proposed during our online classes. I will give
you two examples of different open-ended tasks.
5.1 Fairy Tale
"In hot Africa, on a desert island, there lived a Lion Cub and his wise friend the Tortoise.
One day the Lion Cub built a slide out of sand, filled it with water so it wouldn't collapse, but
he couldn't go for a ride. Why?
Help the Lion Cub ride down the sand slide. Or guess what the wise Tortoise advised him."
Solving this problem, the children suggested:
- Sprinkle the slide with dry sand
- Ride on something hard and smooth (palm leaf, shell of a large coconut, basin, etc.)
- Ask the Tortoise to roll over on its shell and ride together
- Use slippery jellyfish that have been washed ashore after a storm
Fig. 5. Kids’ solutions
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5.2 Real Life
"Alexander had a small turtle living in his house. It was very curious and liked to crawl around
the apartment, hide under furniture, in corners, but it was not always able to get out of hiding
places. Alexander was very worried when he did not find the turtle. He does not want to put it
into the cage and lets it crawl freely. Help the boy. Think of a way to quickly locate the turtle."
The children suggested:
- Put boxes or rags in the passageways under the furniture, to make them inaccessible
- Enlarge the turtle’s shell by attaching an empty plastic bottle
- Attach a bell to the turtle to hear where it is crawling
- Attach a brightly colored balloon or ribbon to the shell
- Listen for rustles, search under furniture with a flashlight
- Take pictures of inaccessible spaces with a cell phone and selfie stick
- Bait with food
- Lure with warmth
- Attach a TV remote that detects itself
Fig. 6. Kids’ solutions
And, finally, do we have to teach to choose only one but best solution?
I believe we do. Choosing the decision that is the closest to the order of the IFR-in-chief, is a
key skill. It is formed gradually through training.
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6. Conclusions
To conclude, I would like to state the advantages of this type of work.
The image of a rescuer or a doctor is attractive and motivating. The use of fairy tales stimulates
the kids’ interest. We have to choose problems that are close to real-life situations and the kids’
experience. After solving these problems similar tasks stop being new and become typical prob-
lems kids are familiar with and able to cope with.
At the same time, we should bear in mind the following aspects:
- To be able to work with adapted algorithms the teacher has to be familiar with ARIZ
- Kids are able to apply this tool only if you train on a regular basis
- The quality of solutions totally depends on the number of TRIZ models kids can use
References
1. Tatiana Sidorchuk, Nikolai Khomenko “Thoughtivity for Kids: Developing Creativity,
Imagination, Problem Solving and Language in Ages 3-8; Through Triz and Other Innovation
Methods”, Goal Q P C
https://www.amazon.com/Thoughtivity-Kids-Developing-Creativity-Imagina-
tion/dp/1576810828
2. Ekaterina Pchelkina “DARIZ. Chidren’s Algorithm for Inventive Problem Solving. For
Parents and Educators.” (Original title: “DARIZ. Detskiy algoritm resheniya izovretatelskih
zadach. Dlya roditeley i pedagogov”) Galaktica. Moscow, 2018 (in Russian)
3. Alla Nesterenko “Hooray! We’ve Got Problems!” (Original title: “Ura! U nas problemy!”) e-
book, Trizbook, 2014 (in Russian)
https://trizbox.ru/catalog/ebook/ura-u-nas-problemy
Communicating author: Nadezhda Zhuravleva
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The International TRIZ Conference ITC-2023
TRIZ IN EDUCATION: CONTRADICTION OR
INTEGRATION
Olga Krasheninnikova
Abstract
This paper dwells on the question whether TRIZ can be complementary to modern curricula and con-
tribute to developing learners’ higher-order thinking skills. I briefly describe modern approaches to
teaching TRIZ to kids as well as ways of bringing TRIZ into classroom and then give examples of
integration of TRIZ and another modern teaching approach, namely CLIL.
Keywords: TRIZ, TRIZ Pedagogy, OTSM-TRIZ, approaches, cognition
1. TRIZ for Kids: Preconditions
TRIZ is considered to start when the first working algorithm (ARIZ) was designed by Genrikh
Altshuller in 1956. In the 80-s with the explosive growth of the TRIZ community, TRIZ spe-
cialists realized that the system works not only for solving technical problems, but it can be
applicable in many other spheres of human activity.
Moreover, a person who is familiar with TRIZ develops a special mindset that can be charac-
terized by the following traits.
- Need for creativity, predisposition to search for and solve creative problems in dif-
ferent fields.
- Ability to apply creative methods and models in different spheres of human activity.
For example, a person who has been trained to use TRIZ to solve technical problems,
can apply creative methods to solve problems of relationships, management, etc.
- Development of a new type of intuition based on Evolution Trends.
- High learning ability, that is the ability to master knowledge in new areas very
quickly and systematically [1].
-
Naturally, a question arose if it is possible to develop such mindset in kids if we start teaching
TRIZ at early age. Thus, in late 80-s TRIZ Pedagogy was born.
TRIZ pedagogy aimed to form productive thinking and educate a creative person prepared to
solve complex problems in various fields of activity. Its difference from the known means of
problem-based learning is the use of techniques and algorithms developed within the frame-
work of TRIZ. They have been revised and adapted to the goals of pedagogy [2].
2. TRIZ Teaching Approaches
In the course of adaptation of TRIZ tools to the needs of young learners, various approaches to
teaching TRIZ have formed. They can be roughly described as Classical, Popular and Techno-
logical [3].
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2.1 Classical Approach
Based on classical technical TRIZ, it boasts a well-developed system of TRIZ tools adapted for
kids and integration with other modern teaching approaches: neuropedagogy, eidetics, etc.
One of the most prominent authors is Ekaterina Pchelkina, Executive Secretary of RA TRIZ
(Russian TRIZ Association, Saint-Petersburg). She adapted ARIZ for kids and came up with a
system of adapted problem-solving algorithms for young learners that are called DARIZ (Chil-
dren’s ARIZ) and are used by the majority of TRIZ teachers.
The approach focuses on developing kids’ thinking skills, creativity and problem-solving. The
majority of courses within this approach are for extracurricular classes, although teachers apply
it as thinking models for their subject classes or introduce problem-solving activities motivating
children to apply subject knowledge to solve inventive problems.
RA TRIZ organizes TRIZ Olympics for young learners and teachers as well as other contests,
encourages kids’ inventions and research projects.
2.2 Popular Approach
This approach has succeeded in popularizing TRIZ Pedagogy on a large scale. The term “TRIZ
Pedagogy” itself is used by the teachers and authors belonging to this approach.
It can boast a large database of TRIZ games, brain-boosting activities and pedagogical methods.
Bright examples of this approach are Creatime project, Evgenia Hin’s A Podumat (Let Us
Think) project.
There is a big number of courses for kids of different ages, mainly extracurricular. However,
they are expanding the method to private schools and regular classes.
The approach focuses on creativity and cognition development introducing open-ended and
inventive tasks to subject lessons and TRIZ classes. The teachers have collected a rich database
of open-ended problems in different subject areas.
The approach is based on the following principles:
2.2.1 Integral Picture of the World
Everything in the world is interconnected. Teaching across subjects will help the kids develop
an integral picture of the world.
2.2.2 Knowledge Through Creativity
Solid knowledge and skills are developed through creative activity.
2.2.3 Creativity as Basis
In the modern world creativity is the most important part of personality.
2.2.4 Student Subjectivity
Contemporary education should regard a learner as a subject of education making his or her
own choice [2].
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2.3 Technological Approach
I call this name the OTSM-TRIZ based approach. OTSM stands for General Theory of Powerful
Thinking. This approach was developed by TRIZ Master Nikolay Khomenko and its goal was
a system of tools to work with complex non-standard problems in any context or field of human
activity.
The OTSM-TRIZ approach to teaching has more specific tools than any other TRIZ approach.
Its aim is to develop the ability to detect and solve problems in any field of knowledge including
the unknown. It means that a student has to be prepared for life learning and ready and able to
get the necessary knowledge all by him/herself. That is why a lot of specific tools developed
within this approach are dedicated to dealing with information: a learner when confronted with
a problem should be able to collect the necessary data, categorize them, make a model of the
problem, a model of its solution and finally come up with a concrete solution [4].
The ability to make your own models, that is to move from the concrete to the abstract and vice
versa is considered key competence for effective problem-solving. The tools OTSM offers are
general enough to be easily transferred to any subject-specific area.
In the author’s opinion, OTSM is the only TRIZ based teaching approach that perfectly fits in
any curriculum enriching teachers’ tools to develop their learners’ cognitive skills and creativity
in any class within any subject area.
Some of the most prominent authors are Alla Nesterenko, who developed a methodology for
problem-based teaching in primary and secondary school, Tatiana Sidorchuk, author of meth-
odology for preschool education. Among European educators it is worth highlighting Alexan-
der Sokol’s Thinking Approach (Latvia).
3. Different Yet Similar
Despite the differences in particular tools and key methods, all the TRIZ-based approaches
agree upon the core values of TRIZ education or TRIZ for education: to foster creativity, which
is no longer considered an intrinsic characteristic of few geniuses; to bring up a new generation
of people able to adapt easily to the everchanging world: proactive problem-solvers, life-long
learners, innovators able to generate new ideas in line with sustainability values.
4. TRIZ and Modern Education
TRIZ has outgrown the times when it contradicted the educational systems that 30 or 40 years
ago were mainly concerned about solid knowledge and offered good tools for reproductive
learning where the students’ initiative was rather unnecessary than welcome.
Nowadays all the curricula highlight the importance of active learning, problem-oriented edu-
cation, autonomous inquiry and research, creativity and the ability to use general methods of
dealing with information rather than memorizing exact facts.
But when it comes to implementing all these principles, teachers still have a lot of trouble de-
signing a syllabus or a lesson that would meet all the above-mentioned requirements.
This is the exact point where TRIZ and curricula meet. Whereas educators lack a well-designed
system of trainings, tasks, models to stimulate cognition and foster problem-solving and crea-
tivity, the TRIZ approach becomes a source of such tools.
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5. TRIZ and CLIL Integration
In Lenguateca schools, both online and offline we integrate CLIL and TRIZ to ensure the stu-
dents’ better results.
CLIL stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning. It was created by David Marsh in
1994. The term CLIL describes an evolving approach to teaching and learning where subjects
are taught and studied through the medium of a non-native language [5].
If we represent different approaches to CLIL on a cline, we will see that ideally teaching a
subject and a language at the same time should be well-balanced, with 50% of subject and 50%
of language learning. But the approach is quite flexible. Teachers can focus more on subject
teaching or the language. That is why it can be combined well with TRIZ (Fig.1).
Fig. 1. Graphical Representation of CLIL
5.1 CLIL Basic Principles
A CLIL teacher should always bear in mind the three dimensions of a lesson or a course: sub-
ject, language, thinking skills or cognition, as well as stick to the 4 Cs (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. CLIL Core Principles
The 4 Cs framework was described in 2000 by Marsh and other researchers and it refers to four
aspects of CLIL teaching: content, communication, cognition and culture.
CONTENT refers to the subject content, though it is not only subject knowledge, but the ac-
companying learning skills, such as the ability to create a presentation or record a video or to
conclude your work.
COMMUNICATION refers to the receptive and productive language the learners will need to
understand the content and to express their understanding of it. The language is used in a func-
tional context, that is the teacher has to pick the words and constructions the learners will really
need to communicate in this context.
COGNITION refers to thinking skills, that is, the learners should explore the content, process
the information and construct their own meaning.
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CULTURE refers to exploration of other cultures, but not only that. It can also refer to the “way
of thinking” specific to each subject.
5.2 Why CLIL
We mainly work with multilingual kids who are normally children of Russian expats. CLIL is
an extremely beneficial approach to stick to with such learners.
Such kids normally possess good basic communication skills but have difficulty expressing
themselves on topics different from their family use. CLIL answers the question how exactly
we can enrich their vocabulary. First, by introducing different content, and second, by working
at their academic language proficiency. It needs scaffolding, that is, good support from the
teacher, and CLIL approach provides step by step instructions on how to organize linguistic
support.
5.3 Where CLIL and TRIZ meet
CLIL pays a lot of attention to developing higher-order thinking skills (HOTs) and it uses
Bloom’s taxonomy as a basis.
According to it, tasks that are at the bottom of the pyramid, namely remembering, understanding
and applying refer to the so-called LOTs, that is lower-level thinking skills, and the ones at the
top of the pyramid represent higher-order thinking skills (Fig.3).
Fig. 3. Bloom’s Taxonomy
However, CLIL does not provide clear answers to some of the questions such as:
- How exactly do we develop HOTs?
- Is it enough just to provide challenging materials?
- How exactly do we extend thinking beyond simply understanding and applying the content in
similar situations?
- Is it enough just to provide questions? Are we sure the kids will know how to find answers?
And if we extend the questions further than what you can google?
- And finally, how do we teach creativity?
Everything CLIL offers is a set of tasks like “compare”, “state the difference”, “say it another
way”, “design a booklet or a mind map” with reference to different levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.
And this is exactly the point where TRIZ tools, especially the ones based on OTSM-TRIZ,
provide a system of games and techniques to scaffold cognition.
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In TRIZ we avoid reproductive teaching and help the learners autonomously come to the un-
derstanding of content through specially organized research and analysis. It means that we focus
mainly on the higher-order thinking skills.
Every task can be represented as a problem, or a challenge. Moreover, the learner is provided
with general, not only subject-specific tools to solve the problem. Thus, kids acquire general
problem-solving competencies, which is of course one of the goals of contemporary education.
6. TRIZ and CLIL: Examples from Classroom
6.1 Problems and Storylines
In our school every course has its storyline and its personages. Let us call them “challenge-
makers”. Every day they face with new problems that kids help them to solve.
For example, an ex-pirate Joe lives on a lost island and has problems with his memory, so he
decides to write notes not to forget things. And as we solve this problem, we understand why
we need spaces between words, full stops and capital letters. Then we learn how we can cypher
information.
With smaller kids we have a Sound Bunny who likes listening to sounds, and a letter-eating
Monster who shows how to convert sounds into letters. The same personages face with different
problems that do not only deal with language matters. Thus, they help us introduce other content
into the class.
There are also some advisors, like Muffin the dog, who can show some steps to take in order to
solve the problem.
6.2 Research
Let us look closer at the life of the ex-pirate Joe. He has a very strange pet. We try to understand
what is so weird about it and start to explore the animals we know. We play with a collection
of pictures and as a result find out the basic parameters by which they differ – that is, we come
to the classification of vertebrates. Finally, we come to the conclusion that this strange creature
is a mixture of two classes: a mammal and an amphibia and find a name for it (Fig 4).
Fig. 4. Joe’s Pet [6]
There are different ways to conduct a class using this situation. It depends on the teacher’s aim.
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You can go further and find advantages and difficulties of such a creature, and you might use a
multi-screen model to analyze it.
You can go deeper into classification and explain why this creature cannot exist in real life.
As a result of this research kids can design a flowchart with classification or a “passport” of a
mammal. “Passports” are part of the OTSM-TRIZ technology. They help us differentiate be-
tween different classes of objects.
6.3 Creativity
Every topic must have a creative outcome. In the case of the strange animal it is a good oppor-
tunity to study one of the CIA (Creative Imagination Development) tools for generating new
ideas, namely Hybridization.
A creative task can be “Create your own strange pet” but make it a combination of different
classes of animals. Then describe this animal and explain how it lives, what it can do and what
it is difficult for it to do. This task has a high cognitive load and at the same time implies
motivated use of the language. Without preparatory work such as research, study of CIA tools
it would have poor results among the majority of the class.
7. Course Design
Designing an integrated TRIZ-CLIL course one should always bear in mind multiple goals,
such as:
- CONTENT, that is the subject to study.
- COGNITION or TRIZ tools or thinking models one is going to teach on the basis of this
content
- LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY – the grammar and vocabulary the students will need to study
and to speak about this content and how exactly they will develop the four linguistic competen-
cies: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
- CREATIVITY in a wide sense: problem solving, creative tasks related to the content, evalu-
ation of the results.
These aspects can be mixed from class to class. Sometimes a teacher can focus more on the
language, sometimes on the creativity, but in any case, it is crucial to keep in mind these mul-
tiple goals. That is why a course can look like a web with different knots or like a mixing
console, but in any case, it is not a straight and well-paved road (Fig. 5).
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Fig. 5. Course Design
8. Conclusions
TRIZ should be considered not only a system of tools for innovation but also a teaching ap-
proach that can contribute to developing the learners’ higher-order thinking skills and bring
creativity and problem-solving in classroom to a new level of systematic, well-scaffolded ac-
tivity based on clear principles and techniques.
Schools that apply this approach note that the students show better academic results, better
adaptation to new circumstances and collaboration skills, high creative potential and are not
afraid of hardship.
References
1. Zusman A.V. “Creative Pedagogy” (Original title: “Tvorcheskaya Pedagogika”), Article
(draft). (in Russian)
2. Guin A. “TRIZ Pedagogy: Teaching to Think Creatively” (Original title: “TRIZ Pedagogika:
Uchim Kreativno Myslit”), Moscow, VITA-PRESS, 2016. (in Russian)
3. Nesterenko A.A., Terekhova G.V “Contemporary State of TRIZ Education: Analysis and
Development Prospects. Monograph” (Original title: “Sovremennoe Sostoyanie TRIZ
Obrazovania: Analiz I Perspektivy Razvitiya. Monografia”), 2012. (in Russian)
4. Nesterenko A.A. “Knowledge Workshop” (Original title: “Masterskaya Znaniy”), e-book,
Moscow, 2013
5. McLoughlin A. “How To Write CLIL Materials”. ELT Teacher 2 Writer, 2021
6. https://www.freepik.com/ai/image-generator
Communicating author: Olga Krasheninnikova, info@lenguateca.com
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Proceedings of the 1st MATRIZ Official
International TRIZ Conference ITC 2023
August 30 - September 2, 2023
Organized by the International TRIZ Official Association – MATRIZ
Official
Editor: Valeri Souchkov
The collection of papers «MATRIZ Official International TRIZ Confer-
ence ITC 2023» is intended for TRIZ specialists and users: academics,
engineers, inventors, innovation professionals, consultants, trainers,
teachers.
The present book of Proceedings includes papers related to the re-
search and development of TRIZ, best practices with TRIZ, cases of
practical application of TRIZ, and issues related to TRIZ training and
education.
All presented papers are peer-reviewed.
© Copyright 2023: The International TRIZ Official Association - MATRIZ
Official
ISSN: 2950-5224
ISBN: 978909038076
Published by the International TRIZ Official Association – MATRIZ Official
www.matriz-official.net