A model for problem representation at various generic levels to assist inventive design

Inventive design requires specific competences. Designing means create new concepts out of acquired knowledge. To reach such a goal cognitive competences are required. TRIZ is a theory for inventive problem solving which is based on the abstraction of knowledge and of the description of the problems to solve, to be able to make analogies with any technical domain. This principle of abstraction is of great interest, but it also requires the ability to shift from a high level of abstraction to a more specific level. The building of the links between abstract models of problems and more specific ones is missing in TRIZ. This article proposes an UML model to make this link. Starting from a functional description of the systems, it enables the construction of abstract formulation of problems according to TRIZ frames. A case study illustrates the different description of the problems and the link between them.