1. Building the "Tool-FPU-Object" triptych: the basis of the study

As a preamble to TRIZ, we need to identify the basic triptych of study components: the TRIZ basic system, also known as the "triptych". It is made up of three elements:

• The tool: this is the name given to the component at the heart of the study to be built by the designer/inventor. The name "tool" adds an "active" connotation to the component under consideration.

• The Principal Useful Function (PUF): this is the simplest verbal expression of what the tool is supposed to do. This UPF is defined as THE function at the top of the functional pyramid of what the tool is supposed to do, the one that gives it a reason to exist.

• The object: this is the element on which the tool acts. If the object is removed, the tool has no reason to exist.

These...