The Contradiction Behind Samsung's Battery Breakthrough—And How It Transforms UX
In 2015, Samsung faced an "impossible" contradiction: users demanded all-day battery life, but adding larger batteries made phones uncomfortably heavy. Engineers tried everything—better chips, software optimization, new charging tech. Nothing worked. Then, they asked a different question.
Not "How do we balance these trade-offs?"
But: "What if the trade-off itself is wrong?"
They turned to TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving)—a Soviet-era methodology derived from analyzing 40,000 patents. Within months, Samsung developed breakthrough innovations in battery chemistry and structure that made the Galaxy lighter while extending battery life. No compromise. Both parameters improved.
This same methodology tackles your most stubborn UX challenges.
The Fundamental Insight: Everything Is a Contradiction
While traditional design thinking often teaches us to "balance" competing needs, TRIZ teaches us to eliminate them.
A Technical Contradiction in TRIZ occurs when improving Parameter A worsens Parameter B:
When you face these, the instinct is to compromise: "Let's add some features, but not too many." TRIZ offers a different path: Resolve the contradiction.
Case Study: How Boeing Won a $1B Contract
The Problem
Boeing needed to design a refueling tanker based on the 767. The contradiction: Military specifications required extensive modifications (complexity), but the contract demanded rapid delivery using existing parts (standardization).
The TRIZ Principles Applied
- →Principle #1 (Segmentation): Break the aircraft into modular zones—keep 70% unchanged, modify only critical 30%.
- →Principle #6 (Universality): Design modification points that could serve multiple future variants.
- →Principle #26 (Copying): Use simulation and digital twins extensively before physical prototyping.
The Result
Boeing delivered a fully customized military tanker using ~70% commercial parts, beating competitors and winning a massive contract. They didn't compromise—they solved the contradiction.
5 TRIZ Principles That Will Transform Your UX Work
Here are the exact principles that work best for digital products, with real examples you can apply today.
Segmentation
"Divide an object into independent parts"
The Contradiction
Stripe needed to serve both solo freelancers (who want "Get Paid" in 2 clicks) and enterprise CFOs (who need fraud detection, tax compliance, and reconciliation tools).
One interface can't effectively be both "dead simple" and "enterprise-grade."
The TRIZ Solution
Don't build one interface. Segment it.
Stripe offers Stripe Checkout (a 3-line code snippet for simple use cases) and Stripe Billing + Payment Links (complete dashboards for complex operations). Same API, different interfaces. Each segment is optimized for its user.
🎯 Apply This Tomorrow:
If your power users complain your dashboard is "too simple" and beginners say it's "too complex," don't add a "medium mode." Create two experiences: a stripped "Quick Actions" panel and an "Advanced" view with full controls. Let users self-select.
Prior Action
"Perform the required change before it's needed"
The Contradiction
Instagram posts take 3-8 seconds to upload, but users expect instant feedback (a psychological need for speed).
The TRIZ Solution
Do it before they ask.
Instagram starts uploading the moment you select a filter, before you hit "Share." By the time you tap the button, it's often 80% done. The post appears instantly. The system performed the slow action in advance, utilizing the time you were already spending.
🎯 Apply This Tomorrow:
Look for "waiting states" in your product. When a user clicks "Open Document," don't wait for them to confirm—start loading it in the background immediately. Prior Action turns 5-second waits into instant responses.
Inversion
"Invert the action or approach"
The Contradiction
Users want to explore thousands of products (volume), but pagination creates friction (each "Next Page" is a decision point and interrupts flow).
The TRIZ Solution
Invert who moves.
Traditional pagination: the user clicks to move to the next page. Infinite scroll inverts this—the content moves to the user. The user stays stationary, scrolling naturally, while content flows upward. The contradiction disappears because the "next page" decision is removed.
🎯 Apply This Tomorrow:
Wherever users have to "request" something, try inverting it. Instead of "Click to see details," automatically show details and let them "Click to hide." Instead of "Request a demo," proactively offer "Start a demo now." Flip the default.
Dynamics
"Allow characteristics to change to be optimal at each stage"
The Contradiction
Experts need keyboard shortcuts and dense information. Beginners need whitespace and guidance. One static interface cannot serve both optimal states.
The TRIZ Solution
Build an interface that evolves with the user.
Linear starts as a clean, minimal view. But as you use it, it tracks your velocity. Once you hit certain usage patterns, it unlocks the command palette, exposes keyboard shortcuts, and surfaces power-user features.
The interface is dynamically simple for beginners and dynamically complex for experts—the same product, different optimization states.
🎯 Apply This Tomorrow:
Track user proficiency. After 10 actions, start showing shortcuts. After 50, hide beginner tooltips. Let your UI adapt to the user's skill curve.
Intermediary
"Use an intermediary to carry out an action"
The Contradiction
Complex enterprise software requires deep technical knowledge (high barrier), but most users aren't engineers.
The TRIZ Solution
Insert an intermediary that translates complexity.
Webflow lets you build complex websites without writing code. The intermediary is the visual builder—it sits between the user and the code, translating drag-and-drop actions into clean HTML/CSS.
Similarly, AI coding assistants act as intermediaries between "I want a feature" (goal) and the syntax required to build it.
🎯 Apply This Tomorrow:
Identify the "expertise gap." If users need SQL to query data, build a visual query builder. If they need to configure complex settings, create a "Wizard" that asks simple questions and generates the distinct configuration.
The Ideal Final Result: Design's North Star
The most radical idea in TRIZ is the Ideal Final Result (IFR). It asks:
"What if the system performed its function perfectly, but the system itself didn't exist?"
This sounds abstract, but it's deeply practical. When designing a login screen, most designers think: "How can I make this login form elegant?" IFR asks: "How can I eliminate the need to log in?"
Login Evolution via IFR
Username + Password
User must remember credentials and type them correctly.
Biometric (FaceID / Fingerprint)
User initiates login, but no typing required.
Device Token + Background Auth
App recognizes device and session. No explicit login step.
No Login Screen Exists
The system knows who you are through context. The login function involves zero user friction.
This is why smart home devices simply work when you're home. The authentication function exists, but the interface does not.
IFR forces you to ask: "Am I polishing the interface, or am I eliminating the need for it?"
Your TRIZ Action Plan
How to apply this immediately to your next design challenge:
- 1
Identify Your Contradiction
Write it down: "I want [Parameter A], but improving it worsens [Parameter B]."
- 2
Choose a TRIZ Principle
Scan the principles above. Which one addresses the specific type of conflict?
- 3
Apply It Literally
Don't overthink. If you picked "Prior Action," ask: "What slow thing can I do before the user asks?" Then prototype it.
- 4
Imagine the IFR
What if the interface didn't exist but the function still happened? Work backward from there.
- 5
Test It
Build the contradiction-free version. Verify if both parameters actually improved.
Final Thought
The next time your product manager says "We have to choose between Speed and Security," or your team debates "Simple vs. Powerful," stop. You're in a contradiction.
Don't compromise. Don't balance.
Open TRIZ. Find the principle. Eliminate the trade-off.
Somewhere in a 1946 Russian patent library, an engineer already solved your problem. You just need to translate it to pixels.