Problem Candidate Inbox

The Problem Candidate Inbox is the review queue for investigations that have been shaped into Problem Candidates. Use it after Shape Investigation — or after a candidate arrives from another source — to decide whether a problem should become a PRIZ project.

In this document, we’ll walk through the inbox, the review page, and every action available in the current flow: edit, approve, ask for more information, merge, reject, archive, and convert to a project.

Sign Up & Login

This document assumes you have already registered and logged in. If you need help with registration or authentication, please refer to our Sign Up & Login Instructions.

The Problem Candidate Inbox is available when the feature is enabled for your workspace.

Opening the inbox

You can open the inbox from several places:

1. On the Projects & Tools page, open the create menu next to Add New Project and choose Candidate Inbox.
2. After saving a shaped candidate, click Go to Candidate Inbox or Open in Candidate Inbox.
3. Use the Problem Candidates breadcrumb from Shape Investigation or a review page.
4. Go directly to https://app.priz.guru/problem-candidates.

The page heading is Problem Candidate Inbox. The workspace path is Home > Projects & Tools > Problem Candidates. The one-liner is: Review, edit, approve, merge, reject, archive, or convert Problem Candidates.

From the inbox you can also start a new shaping session with Shape Investigation.

Browsing and filtering candidates

By default, the list shows candidates in Needs Review. You can filter by:

• Status: Needs Review, Needs More Info, Approved, Converted, Merged, Rejected, Archived
• Source: Slack, AI chat, Meeting, Email, Document, PRIZ, Notes
• High Value: candidates with a value score of 70 or higher
• Recurring: candidates with a recurrence score of 60 or higher

A candidate created from Shape Investigation is stored as source PRIZ, with source title PRIZ-native investigation.

Each card shows the title, status, source, the first recommended actions, Value and Recurrence scores, the created date, and the person who saved it. Click a card to open the review page.

If no candidates match the current filters, PRIZ shows an empty-state message for that combination.

Reviewing a candidate

The review page uses the same structured form as the Shape Investigation preview, plus review actions. At the top you will see:

• The candidate title
• Status
• Source
• The person who created the candidate
• Review history, when a review action has already been taken. This includes the review time and any note, such as an archive note or a request-for-information message.

While the status is Needs review or Needs more info, the form is editable. Click Save edits after you change fields.

If similar-project search is enabled, Related projects opens a panel of existing PRIZ projects that look related to this candidate. If related Problem Candidates exist, they also appear in a Related candidates list on the review page.

Candidate statuses and available actions

The available actions depend on status:

Status	What you can do
Needs review	Save edits, Approve, Ask for more information, Merge, Reject, Archive, Related projects
Needs more info	Save edits, Approve, Merge, Reject, Archive, Related projects
Approved	Merge, Convert to project, Archive, Related projects
Converted, Merged, Rejected, Archived	Review the record. The form is read-only. Related projects may still be available

Ask for more information

Use this when the candidate is still in Needs review, but you need missing facts before approving it.

1. Click Ask for more information.
2. In the dialog, enter What information is needed?
3. Click Request info. The button stays inactive until a message is entered.

The candidate moves to Needs more info. The message is stored in Review history and is also added to Open questions.

Approve

Click Approve when the candidate is a real problem worth investigating.

The status becomes Approved. After that, you can convert it into a PRIZ project. You can still archive or merge an approved candidate.

Convert to project

This action appears only after approval.

1. Click Convert to project.
2. PRIZ opens Convert to PRIZ project and generates a project brief.
3. Review Project title. It is pre-filled from the candidate title and can be edited.
4. Review Project description. This brief is a draft. Edit it before converting.
5. Optionally click Regenerate to create a new brief. If you already edited the description, PRIZ asks whether to replace your edits.
6. Click Convert.

PRIZ creates the project and takes you to its Project Overview. The candidate status becomes Converted, and a link to the new project is shown on the candidate.

If the brief cannot be generated, you can still convert. PRIZ will generate the brief when the project is created. Click Cancel to close the dialog without converting.

Merge

Use Merge when this candidate is a duplicate of another one.

1. Click Merge.
2. The dialog is Merge into another candidate.
3. If related candidates exist, choose a Target candidate and click Merge.
4. If none are found, PRIZ tells you there is nothing to merge into.

After a merge, this candidate is marked Merged.

Reject

Use Reject when this is not a problem you want to keep in the queue.

1. Click Reject.
2. Enter a Reason. The reject button stays inactive until a reason is entered.
3. Click Reject to confirm, or Cancel to keep the candidate in review.

After reject, the status becomes Rejected. The reason is stored in Review history. The form becomes read-only.

Archive

Use Archive to remove a candidate from the active review queue without rejecting it. This is the right action when the candidate is valid enough to keep, but you do not want it in the default Needs Review list.

You can archive a candidate from Needs review, Needs more info, or Approved. You cannot archive a candidate that is already Converted, Merged, Rejected, or Archived.

How to archive

1. Open the candidate from the inbox.
2. Click Archive.
3. PRIZ asks: Archive this candidate? The confirmation explains that archived candidates leave the active review queue.
4. Optionally enter a Note. This note is stored in Review history.
5. Click Archive to confirm, or Cancel to keep the candidate in the active queue.

After archive:

• The status becomes Archived.
• The candidate disappears from the default Needs Review inbox.
• The form becomes read-only.
• Review actions such as Approve, Reject, Merge, Save edits, and Archive are no longer shown.
• Related projects may still be available.
• Review history shows the review time and the archive note, if you provided one.

Finding archived candidates

Archived candidates are not deleted. To find them:

1. Open Problem Candidate Inbox.
2. Change the Status filter from Needs Review to Archived.
3. Click the card to open the archived candidate.

You can combine Archived with Source, High Value, and Recurring if you need a narrower list.

Unarchive

Unlike projects and tools, Problem Candidates currently cannot be unarchived.

Once a candidate is archived:

• There is no Unarchive action on the review page.
• The candidate stays in Archived status.
• The record remains viewable, but it is read-only.

If you later decide the problem should be investigated, start a new Shape Investigation from the original context, or continue from a related project if one already exists.

Tips

• Save edits before you approve, reject, or convert.
• Use Related projects before converting, so you do not create a duplicate project.
• Ask for more information when the facts are incomplete, rather than rejecting a candidate that might still be real.
• Archive instead of reject when you want to keep the record but take it out of the active queue.
• Convert only after approval. Conversion creates a PRIZ project and takes you to Project Overview.

That’s it. I hope it’s clear and easy.

P.S. Please let us know if you require any assistance.