TRIZ-trainer is an on-line system that teaches using TRIZ methods for problem solving. The proposed version has been developed for SAMSUNG (South Korea). TRIZ-trainer is described here as an example of our work.
The system is organized as a symbiosis of real and virtual forms of training. The great bulk of the material under study is available to a student through the company's Intranet. Each student has a personal consultant and can communicate with him through a special forum, by telephone or personally, if necessary.
TRIZ-trainer is based on an original problem-solving methodology. This methodology rests on authors' developments and basic TRIZ ideas. The core of the course is a simple step-by-step algorithm of problem solving with recommendations on the use of specific TRIZ tools at each step. The algorithm is presented in the form of a diagram called "Christmas Tree".
All the steps and stages of the solving process, as well as special notions and the essence of actions performed in accordance with the algorithm are explained in the theoretical section and are accompanied by multiple examples and illustrations. For in-depth study of the material, a student is offered a list of reference and Internet resources on each topic.
The system includes a large number of problems and thorough analysis of their solving by the algorithm. It is very important that half of the problems are the company's real problems, which were successfully solved by the TRIZ consultants of Samsung.
The training effectiveness is controlled by a very simple method - by problem solving. During the training period, a student is offered a series of problems for solving so that he gets practical skills and masters the theory without just committing it to memory. Having solved a problem, a student sends his solution version to a teacher for evaluation. Invention problems do not normally have a single correct solution. The student's solution does not always coincide with the check one, but at the same time it may be not less efficient, that is why it is very important that the result be evaluated not only by a formal electronic tool, but by a real teacher as well.
We issued the challenge of developing a maximally convenient, effective and attractive system. To do this, we used multiple illustrations, flash-animations and animations with some interactive elements. The interface of the system is designed not to distract students' attention from the training process.

The main page of TRIZ-trainer. In addition to the navigational functions, it excites interest in TRIZ among the company's employees. The news "Samsung and TRIZ", "The problem of the week" competition and small articles on TRIZ and TRIZ successes at Samsung serve this purpose.



The section "Check problems". Each problem has an animated or interactive illustration. A student may send his solution directly from this page. The page also has a short information-cue concerning the problem solving stages.



The section "Problem analysis". It contains a step-by-step problem analysis accompanied by illustrations, tables and references to glossary entries in case you come across some special term.



The section "Solving procedure". It offers a detailed description of each solving stage with schemes, examples and illustrations.



The sections "Glossary" and "Reference Book". The first one gives "prompt information", while the second section allows obtaining more information on specific topics.
The section "Communication". It enables on-line communication between a student and a teacher. It also offers statistics on the student's progress.

TRIZ-trainer. Demo-version

More detail:
Structural Scheme For Solving a Problem Using TRIZ
On-Line Training System "TRIZ-trainer"