Take a product, service or process and break it down into core components. Using Boyd and Goldenberg's 5 techniques below you manipulate the components to create new products and services.

What I found is that a few of the techniques work really well for coming up with singular-use products.

Subtraction-Remove what you think are the essential elements of a traditional product or service.

HotelTonight is a singular-use business built using the subtraction method, in this case is the need to only stay tonight or 1 night. Hotels sell rooms for every night and you can book generally up to 1 year in the future. HotelTonight subtracted 364 days.

I believe the subtraction technique works the best for creating singular-use products and services.

Task Unification-Bring together unrelated components, tasks or functions.

Airbnb.com is a good example of the task unification technique. Who would have ever thought that there was a billion dollar market for renting out your spare bedroom to strangers?

Travelers need places to sleep (the function). Homeowners receive income to help pay their mortgage (an unrelated task).

I attended a travel conference in Chicago and I was looking for a hotel. I searched at Airbnb.com just to see what was available and I found one condo near the conference that was $99 a night. The amazing thing is that the couple with the condo had 300 reviews. In my estimation this couple has done close to 500 bookings or $50,000 in sales.

Multiplication-Copy a core component or element and then alter it. (Mashup).

SnapChat was created using the multiplication technique. Taking a digital picture with a camera has been around forever. Alter the picture by making it self-destruct.

The multiplication technique is the easiest way to create new singular-use products and services.

Division- Separate the components of a product or service and then re-arrange them.

The low cost airlines are a good example of using the division technique to create new products and services. I am thinking about traveling with Spirit airlines on an upcoming trip. Right now the airfare is $249 round trip from Orlando to Chicago. If I bring bags they are $25 for carry-on and $50 for underneath the plane. Spirit airlines separated the components of what was normally part of the traditional air service to create new revenue generating services.

Component Dependency- Make the components or a variable of a product change in response to the changes in another component or variable in the surrounding environment.

Groupon and Living Social and the group buying insanity that swept through like a wave in the last few years is a good example of the component dependency technique.

When 10 people buy the deals is on. This technique generally revolves around pricing schemes.

Sources:

The Wall Street Journal, Think Inside The Box.