TRIZ in Enhancing of Design Creativity: A Case Study from Singapore

This chapter investigated the ability of Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) to foster design creativity by infusing effective creative design strategies onto users. It explored the winning strategies of famous design innovators and engineering experts from the existing case studies and mapped these strategies onto the TRIZ-facilitated development of an anti-ram vehicle barrier carried out by a small engineering team from Singapore Technologies Kinetics. It has been discovered that the TRIZ tools of Situation Analysis, Method of the Ideal Result, 40 Innovative Principles and Principles of Separation engaged the project team in activities that resulted in at least three effective creative design strategies. During TRIZ facilitation the design team used (i) extensive situation analysis and task reframing, (ii) designing from fundamental principles and (iii) analogical thinking. These strategies allowed the team to replace originally poor design by a novel design that was successfully implemented and patented.