The Butterfly Model for Supporting Creative Problem Solving

TRIZ provides a systematic algorithm which can solve problems creatively. The proposed model, namely the Butterfly model, is a tool for creative problem solving. While this is based on TRIZ and H. Simon's model for near-decomposability, our algorithm is simplified to apply to secondary school students and university students. In this paper, we describe how contradictions can be defined for given problems and how we generate an ideal solution of the problems. Based on the definitions of the problems, the Time State, the Space State, or the Partial-Whole State model are applied to inspire the analytic logic with text and creative visual imagination. Finally, we present the outcomes of learning effects of the Butterfly model in terms of the number of registered patents and awards. The secondary school students and university students who had learned the Butterfly model won the awards in the Korean invention competition festivals. And, their 14 outcomes were registered as patents in Korea. The registration rate was 100%.