Assessing the performance of computerized tools for inventive design: insights from unsatisfactory outcomes

Computers actually support, almost automatically, routine tasks such as those related to the optimization in design. Besides, the scientific community shows a growing interest in developing computer systems to aid non-routine tasks as a key to enhance individuals’ creativity and innovation potential. In such a con-text, several attempts have been made to create tools based on the TRIZ logic to support inventive problem solving; some of them have been commercialized since decades, but still there is no established paradigm and all of them suffer from sev-eral limitations. So far the analysis of those limitations has been focused on the structure and on the nominal features of the software tools, while no in-depth and systematic investigation has been made to identify the reasons behind the partial failure of the existing systems. This paper proposes a set of general criteria to per-form the evaluation of computerized tools supporting inventive design and reports an exemplary application, through protocol analysis, to the dialogue-based com-puterized algorithm for problem analysis, published by the authors in the past.