Print button on Hub view

[advanced]

Hi,

I see when someone presses the “Get a quote from this hub” button while viewing a hub, it takes them to the quotation page for the particular hub. However, when someone clicks the “3D Print” button while on a hub’s page, the site redirects them to the generic printing page.

The problem with redirecting him to the generic print page, is that the generic print page then allows the client to choose a hub from a whole list, and most times the hub that redirected him there, is not even at the top of the list of hubs (in some instances not even on the first page!).

This seems wrong to me: If I’ve gone to all the effort of advertising and promoting my hub, and I finally get a client to go to my hub for a print, I don’t want him to press the “3D print” button, and then end up choosing a different hub! If that’s going to happen, why go to all the trouble of promoting my hub at all?

It just seems more fair to me to not divert a potential client away from the hub that drew him in the first place.

[karlzhao314]

I don’t agree. The “3D Print” button is sitewide and always directs a user to the same page, which is good for consistency. If you had the same button for two different purposes, going to the general Print page and requesting a quote from the hub, it would confuse a lot of people.

Besides, there’s already a “Get a quote from this hub” button on your hub page. Anyone who would want to order from you would already use that button instead of the general 3D Print button. Changing the function of the 3D Print button on individual hub pages seems a bit too close to “tricking” the customer from buying from you instead of other hubs for my liking.

[advanced]

Yes I am quite aware of how the “3D Print” button is implemented, both the technical aspects of the ribbon at the top, as well as the UX aspect of keeping a site’s flow consistent, and which page it redirects to. In that case the “3D Print” button should be renamed to something like “Find a hub near you” or something similar.

When I am already viewing a hub, when I click a button called “3D print”, I expect to order a 3D print from that hub (i.e. exactly what the “Get a quote from this hub” button does. I DON’T expect to then divert AWAY from the hub I’m currently viewing to a list of hubs (where as I’ve said, the hub you’re viewing is sometimes 5th or 6th or even lower).

[karlzhao314]

You may have a fair point as to the renaming of the button to “Find a hub near you”. I’m indifferent to that either way, so if by chance you do get it implemented I won’t oppose it.

However, as I said, I do expect the “3D print” button to divert away from the current hub if that’s what it does on every other page of the site. After all, it’s not named the “3D print from this hub” button. The “Get a quote from this hub” button is there for a reason, and there’s really no need to have two buttons for the same purpose.

[markyoe]

I brought up the same issue and had this idea: https://3dhubs.uservoice.com/forums/212175-3d-hubs-forum/suggestions/13185513-barcode-advertising

What do you think?

[advanced]

I’m more than happy that the flow stays consistent, as you suggest. I agree with consistent flow, but then the button must be named more descriptively.

[ddrobotics]

I think it is more confusing this way. Just today I had to hit the back button and was momentarily confused about why it didn’t wasn’t submitting my print to the hub on the page where I clicked the “3D Print” button.

Think about it this way… If you visit someone’s profile on Facebook and you click a “Send Message” button on their profile page, do you expect to compose a message and then have Facebook suggest to whom you want to send it? No, that would be confusing and you might send the message to the wrong person. If I wanted to send it to just anyone, I would start from the main page or the main menu.

If the “Contact this Hub” or “Get a Quote from this Hub” buttons were a little more prominent, this wouldn’t really be an issue, but the “3D Print” button is much larger and red on a white background, so I’m sure it gets clicked a lot by default. If the hub specific buttons weren’t smaller and somewhat vague (I don’t want a quote… I just want to print! Should I click the quote anyway?). I think they should add a larger red “3D Print from this Hub” with the other smaller vague buttons.

[advanced]

Thanks @ddrobotics. That is exactly why I brought up the topic originally. I did the same thing. That’s why I feel the “3D Print” button should be renamed to something like “Find a hub near you” or something like that.

[JATMN]

Yea this is quite silly… as others have mentioned I like the consistency site wide… But that button really should not be there at all… or if anything like others have said use a different button for hub pages… Makes little sense to have a button on a hub page that takes you away from said page. I know when I was setting up my own hub originally when I did test quotes against myself I myself clicked the wrong button more than once not realizing it was taking me away from my own page. I really wonder how many orders many of us have lost out on because of customer error not knowing about this and ended up placing a order with a different hub unintentionally. Feels counter productive to me.

@Filemon Thoughts?