Definition
An ideation method that starts from technical contradictions and works back from generic solutions collected by others to ask what else the product itself could become; it is the fourth of the five idea generation methods in the ideation course.
In detail
TRIZ runs opposite to the other methods in the same course: finding user needs and the lead user method start from people, TRIZ starts from the thing and asks which contradiction has not yet been resolved. It suits situations where the technical path is stuck and asking customers yields nothing new; it does not tell you whether anyone will buy the result, which is what voice of the customer and concept testing are for. In the process it covers only the divergent stretch, and its ideas go through the same screening basis as any other (narrow to two to four, prototype two) with no exemption for coming from TRIZ.
Example in practice
A product must be both thinner and more pressure-resistant, two requirements in conflict. Using the contradiction view of TRIZ the team separates structure from material, proposes three candidates, and one goes to prototype and passes concept testing.