15 Years of SPALTEN Problem Solving Methodology in Product Development
DS 85-1: Proceedings of NordDesign 2016, Volume 1, Trondheim, Norway, 10th - 12th August 2016
Year: 2016
Editor: Boks, Casper; Sigurjonsson, Johannes; Steinert, Martin; Vis, Carlijn; Wulvik, Andreas
Author: Albers, Albert; Reiß, Nicolas; Bursac, Nikola; Breitschuh, Jan
Series: NordDESIGN
Institution: Karlsruher Institute of Technology, Germany
Section: Methodology: Special Applications
Page(s): 411-420
ISBN: 978-1-904670-80-3
Abstract
The brain has only limited ability to deal with complex Problems. Therefore, the developer must be supported to supplement his natural problem-solving behaviors. The SPALTEN-Methodology was described by Albers et al. and constantly developed further in the past 15 years. Furthermore, it was applied consistently in projects and education. SPALTEN is a German acronym and means “to split”, “to decompose”. In this contribution, the results of an extensive empirical study of the use of SPALTEN in the last 15 years is presented. The study consists of a qualitative preliminary study on basic of interviews (n=15) and a quantitative survey using a questionnaire (n=108) and has a focus on the application and the added value for the user. The results show, that SPALTEN is used in practice by over 80 % of former students and PhD-students, who learned the method in their education.
Keywords: SPALTEN, problem solving, methodology, method