Shapeways Shops 8th of January 2009

Hans,

Yes, I do agree that this is the way a lot of people shop.

We tend to always go for functionality, "what is best for the user."

But, in this case there is more of a Shapeways "philosophy" angle to it as well.

We really want to inspire people and more of a "browsing" approach would seem to be more in line with that.

I suggest no more categories now. In the future, when there are hundreds of frequently-ordered items on the site, it will be possible to say what useful categories would be. Now it's too hard to tell. Also, we already have both an existing set of categories (what is the difference between "Art" and "Sculpture"? what is "Default"?) and the ability to search by tag. If those aren't working well, is adding another layer here going to help?


But -- :confused -- people are not complaining about not being able to search for flowers or holiday-specific gifts. They are complaining about not being able to search by price.

Please, just implement a price filter: show me models from $X to $Y. Don't overthink this. We need this feature now -- don't delay it indefinitely while you try to guess what other features might possibly be needed in the future!

Hear, hear!

Ok guys, point well taken.

I'll ask development, when and how we can do this.

Meanwhile lets check how many people agree with you guys: https://www.shapeways.com/poll

I think what Joris is saying re: categories is important. It's a point I made/agreed on a long time ago.

The Browsing Concept

Browsing categories allows buyers to "window shop". A search engine does not.

When you think hard about it ... does anyone think they really *need* what we are producing here?

"I think I'll pop over to shapeways because I really do need to have a Nubilefirdinohedron in my house"

So, what are they going to search for? Browsing categories allows us to suggest to users what they might want.

"Hmm, I wonder what will happen if I click on this sculptural mathematics category ... Wow! I'd never seen a Nubilefirdinohedron before. I want one *click*".

Seller Custom Categories

At the moment, most producers here do not have expansive lists of products. But I think I'm already starting to notice my list is getting too long.

I would like to be able to guide buyers into certain directions, rather than have them hit with only my latest produced items, or whatever is at one end of a pricing scale, rating scale, alphabet scale, etc...

If I can set my own custom categories, and am able to attach as many of these categories to each product as is reasonable, then I think the buying and selling experience will be optimized.

Examples

I could set a steampunk gadgetry category for all the funky functionals I make.

I could set a cool characters category for any neat little toy figurines I have.

I could set a "SHOWCASE" category to put all the items that I feel are new, and nifty, and not getting enough attention from my buyers.

I could set a "under $10" category ... or a "$10-$20" category to highlight things that are especialy afffordable. For that matter, I could make a "Impulse Add-ons" category for those little under $3 items that help people reach the $25 buying goal.

Ultimate Control Provides Little Results

As an artist, I know that I make the best things when I have some sort of restriction that helps me to focus my intent. Each medium presents its own restriction. If I were faced with mind able to manifest anything from nothing and an empty void, I wouldn't know where to start.

So too with buyers who are faced with an empty search field.

I think allowing folks to search for price ranges is good, yes ... but please don't let it overshadow the importance of custom categories.

-Whystler

If we are able to create our own sub-categories, you could make categories like "$25 and under" and "$25-50" and place the appropriate models in them.

A site-wide price search would be nice, too.

-Has there been an answer to this issue yet?

on the top of my shop wish-list

1. sell items in sets, especially since we hav the $25 dollar limit, it makes sense to have a set of smaller objects that reach this limit.

2. embeddable shop/model preview for other websites