Invention Diary #12: What Early Adoption Is Teaching Us

INVENTION DIARY · ENTRY 12

All of our initial users have reported adopting SnuffRing for regular use. For us, that is encouraging—and it makes the practical feedback about cleaning, wear, and everyday handling especially useful as we plan the next prototypes.

Project update: November 6, 2026.

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A Place in an Existing Routine

We started SnuffRing because we wanted to solve a problem in our own routine. Hearing that other people are choosing to keep using the early device gives us a reason to continue the work.

User M’s early report that SnuffRing had replaced her glass pipe bowl was one example. Other initial users have also given the same positive feedback of incorporating the device into daily use. These are observations from a small founding group, with different lengths of experience. They are useful early feedback, rather than a measure of how a wider market will respond.

What Users Are Telling Us

In Entry #9, we described feedback about cleaning, buildup, and screen wear. Users Blu and S also reported cleaner water pipes and a noticeable reduction in the smoking material they used.

Those savings are users’ perceptions from their own routines. We have not established a controlled savings figure or a result that every user should expect. What the reports give us is a useful question to investigate more consistently.

The Less Convenient Feedback Matters Too

A screen that wears, buildup that becomes difficult to clear, or a cleaning step that is easy to overlook can reveal something that an initial demonstration misses. We need those observations alongside the encouraging reports of adoption.

For us—Greg and Gayla—the useful follow-up is to understand what happened, which version was involved, and how long it had been used. That context helps us decide whether an observation points toward a design question, a maintenance question, or something that needs further investigation.

Turning Feedback Into the Next Questions

Our next prototype planning needs to address more than whether the parts fit. We want to learn how consistently the device can be handled and cleaned, which parts need attention over time, and how straightforward maintenance can be.

Earlier working prototypes and the V35 printed model serve different purposes. The printed model helped us verify unheated fit, assembly, and mechanical operation. Reports from people using earlier working prototypes help us decide what the next evaluation should examine. Neither replaces evaluation of the future metal version.

Honest Feedback Is the Point

Our Founding Tester Program offers a way for interested local adults to express interest in participating. We want candid accounts of what works and what needs improvement. Participation does not require a favorable review.

VetVention continues to assist us with the SnuffRing project, and we appreciate that support as we work through these decisions.

The next step is to carry these observations into a practical evaluation plan for the metal prototypes. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to use an early device and tell us about the experience.