How it works
Feature Fragmentation occurs when functionality that previously existed inside one coherent product or service is divided into separately monetized components.
The CHI test is not whether a company offers optional extras. It is whether meaningful parts of an established value proposition have been separated primarily to create additional monetization points.
Recognition checklist
What to look for
The bundle breaks apart
Functions previously obtained together are separated into distinct plans, modules, packages, or add-ons.
Reassembly costs more
Recreating the previous breadth of functionality requires multiple purchases or a materially higher total payment.
The boundaries follow monetization
The new divisions correspond more closely to opportunities to charge than to genuinely separate products.
Where it appears
Associated companies
Important distinction
Not every modular product is fragmented.
Products can legitimately offer different components for customers with different needs. Feature Fragmentation concerns the division of functionality that previously formed part of an integrated value proposition. A product designed as modular from inception is not automatically an example.