Creative tools, also known as creative thinking tools or problem-solving tools, are an inseparable part of an innovation project. As we keep describing in many of our blog posts, creative thinking tools help us think and focus our thinking on the right direction to solve the problem and innovate. In this article, we describe how to use the tools page of the PRIZ Innovation Platform.
In the scope of the innovation project, you can use any tool an unlimited number of times. Every time you use a tool it is recorded and shown on this page of the project.
Creative Tools Page (Empty State)
If you just started a new project, you can access the page of creative tools at any point by clicking on the “Creative Tools” menu item on the project’s menu.
At the very beginning, the page is empty since none of the tools have been used yet.
Using new tool
While there are many different way how different tools can be used. You may start using a tool from a task, sometimes from within another tool. It is also possible to start a tool directly from the creative thinking tools page.
In order to start using an additional tool, you can click on a new button on the top-right corner of the page:
Once clicked, you will be presented with a toll selection dialog.
The dialog above shows all the tool that available for you to use within the current project. The tools are presented in as cards. Every card will have a tool name, short explanation, a button to start using a tool, and a link to help article about the tool.
Once you made a decision on which tool you want to use, you can do so by clicking on the + ADD TOOL button on a card of the tool.
When clicked, the platform will automatically redirect you to the tool itself, so you can immediately start working with it.
List of existing tool usages
As you progress with a project, you are using more and more different problem solving tools. For some projects more than others. As we already mention above, all the usages of any tool will be recorded and shown on this page.
As an example, the screenshot below shows the creative thinking tools page with a couple of tool usages.
Every item in this list represents a single use of one tool. It shows the name of a tool, a date when it was used and the status. (note: you can mark every tool usage as completed when you work on a tool, to make sure that the data it locked and to mark a particular part of a project as completed.
To navigate into any one of the tools in this list, simply click on the list item itself.
Contact us for any questions or training on the platform.