Tweaking the Innovation

My product is a wearable device with a specific design to assist in opening retaining rings (think key rings) such as those found on sailboat fasteners. The sale of this device is my only revenue driver at this time.  The items would be slight variations of the device such as ring size, color, and shape of the tab.

The benefit of my product is preventing fingernail injury, decreasing frustration, and saving time.

The tangible is as basic as it sounds, simply a metal ring to be worn on the finger with a tab that extrudes from it to simulate a fingernail.

I really can’t pinpoint an augmented benefit. You basically are getting the device with no extra bells or whistles beyond the tangible components and the benefit it will provide.

As far as innovation goes, this is where my product can be tweaked to offer better utility to much larger market. For the original purpose, a tab that extends beyond the finger is great, but I could make that tab able to swing around 180 degrees and be out of the way when not needed. The tab could be a small fixed tab extending upward if that is more comfortable to users, maybe when more force is needed to pry something open. The tab could be larger for a bartender or someone opening cans repetitively. The tab could be equipped with a knife edge for someone who opens cardboard boxes all the time. These innovations center around changing the tangible or basic design of the original concept, but with those slight changes, more customers receive benefits to suit their needs.