Integration of Design Thinking and TRIZ Theory to Assist a User in the Formulation of an Innovation Project

Abstract

The principal limitations of the Design Thinking (DT) model reside in its high subjectivity, which generates some rigidity called psychological inertia and it is observed in the search for a solution within a very well-defined space. Also, DT does not offer strategies or techniques for the detailed solution of the intrinsic problems of the design process. This means that the procedure of the problem-solving that arises during the design process depends on the experience of a team or an individual. The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) may assist the requirements of the Design Thinking model. TRIZ contains among its tools, a set of techniques that allow modeling and solving inventive problems. At the same time, TRIZ does not propose any tool or technique to identify the user’s requirements, a fundamental aspect of the Design Thinking model. As a consequence, this chapter describes a strategy to combine both approaches and presents a basic structure to balance the best characteristics of both the approaches. The purpose is to guide the thinking and the creative efforts during the development of an innovation project and offer to a user a set of tools to solve the problems that invariably the design process contains. Finally, this chapter illustrates the application of both techniques in a case study.