What is the Displacement Template?

The Displacement Template states that a component may be eliminated from the configuration of a system along with its functions, and thus a new product will be created, targeted to a new market. This stands in contrast to the Replacement Template in which the function (represented by a link) of the removed (intrinsic) component was kept in the configuration. Before presenting the implementation and principles in detail let us illustrate this Template with some examples.

In the early 1970s, after a lengthy marketing campaign, the efforts to introduce food products based on a powder for instant home preparation (among them, of course, instant coffee and various soup mixes) into the US market finally succeeded. Among the products introduced in the market was a cake mix for home baking. The idea was that a customer buys the special powder, mixes it with water, pours it into a baking pan and puts it in the oven. Expectations for success were great, both because the product seemed to capture a large market share, and because all the tests gave its taste a high grade. To the manufacturer's great surprise, the marketing efforts failed.

Extensive market research discovered that although US customers wished to save time in food preparation, they were interested in adding their personal touch to the cakes they bake, to give the cake a special “home–made” taste. In order to meet this need, it was suggested that a bit of the product's final form be “eliminated”.