The Investigation Catalyst Matrix supports the systematic discovery, definition and assessment of problems demonstrated by the incident.

Upon completion of linked EB sets on the Matrix, or completion of the entire matrix for the incident, either the Investigator or an analyst can begin the search for problem relationships among the recorded EBs and links. This search task is described in the Problem Discovery Task of the Recommendation Development Tutorial. The key to an exhaustive search for candidate problems to fix is to examine every action and link on the Matrix as a possible problem.

When Investigators find a problem, Investigation Catalyst enables the Investigator to tag the location of the problem with a Diamond. Diamonds can be used to tag both EBs and links. More than one Diamond can be attached to either if the EB or link demonstrates more than one problem. Investigators can use the Inspector to return to and edit any Diamond content, or delete it at any time during the investigation when new data require that action.

The visibility of the problem locations at the problem actions and links supports quick access to and review and discussion of the problems and recommendations that flow from that designation.

When Investigators attach a Diamond to an EB or link, Investigation Catalyst presents the Investigator with data entry panels for recording the problem found, and for documenting attributes for assessment of the problem. Users can select either the default attributes, or input theirs and use those to document the attributes.

Once recorded, Investigation Catalyst supports use of the problem data for editing with the Inspector. It also enables Investigators to retrieve or export it in table form for quality assurance and task assignment purposes, for example.