- Subtraction or Reduction: removing one or more elements from the product or process. The natural tendency is to want to increase the features of a product or service. However, this can lead to feature bloat, a product which is confusing to the end consumer and spiraling costs. The element removed may be:
- undesirable, such as the alcohol in beer or the caffeine in coffee, or
- revolutionary, such as the speakers in a Sony Walkman, or
- replaced by something already in the environment, such as removing the legs from a baby's chair and clipping it directly to the table, or
- simply result in a more affordable product, such as the removal of travel agents, tickets, free food and drink, seat reservations and customer care from Ryanair.
- Multiplication: adding one or more copies of an element or attribute of the product or service. For example,
- adding additional blades and changing the angle of the blades in the Gilette razor, or
- adding additional tray to a CD player to produce an automated CD changer.
- Division: Divide the product or process into one or more separately usable, often modular, components. This is common with electronic goods. For example,
- the separation of turntables, speakers and amplifiers into separate components. This modularisation of home entertainment units has meant that new devices, such as MP3 players are more easily integrated into existing equipment.
- Task Unification: assigning new tasks to existing elements of a product, often combining the function of one element into another. For example,
- getting the defrosting wires in a windshield to act as the radio antenna, orusing a iPhone to control other household devices.
- Attribution Dependency Change: creating or removing dependencies between the product/process and its environment. For example,
- splitting unisex razors into masculine and feminine razors.
Source: Strategic Coffee - http://strategiccoffee.chriscfox.com/2010/01/innovation-templates.html
