Creative Design Methodology and the SIT Method

Abstract The paper presents SIT (Structured Inventive Thinking) — a structured method for enhancing creative problem solving in engineering design. The method is a three step procedure: problem reformulation, general search strategy selection, and an application of idea provoking techniques. The most innovative part of the method is the problem reformulation stage. The given problem is modified through the application of objectively defined and empirically tested set of sufficient conditions for creative solutions. The paper describes the sufficient conditions and the empirical study that demonstrates their appropriateness. Then the whole SIT mechanism is presented with illustrative examples.