Entrance

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Way In, Doorway, Entry

Category

Directions, Public Facilities, Travel

Message / Function

To indicate and identify the location of an entry point or preferred way to enter

	Source	Description
	Icograda	Wall with door, arrow pointing upwards
	Icograda	Human figure walking through open door, arrow pointing in walking direction
	Zwaga 1974	Human figure walking through open door, arrow pointing in walking direction
	Zwaga 1974	Human figure walking through open door, arrow pointing in walking direction
	Zwaga 1974	Human figure walking towards opening in rectangular enclosure, arrow pointing inwards
1)	Icograda	Human figure walking from opening towards center of rectangular enclosure
	Icograda	Human figure walking from opening towards center of rectangular enclosure
	O'72	Human figure walking towards vertical bar indicating wall
2)	Simlinger	Arrow pointing at opened double wing door of rectangular enclosure
	ÖNORM A 3011	Arrow pointing at opened double wing door of rectangular enclosure
	UIC 413 b	Arrow pointing at opened double wing door of rectangular enclosure
	NS 1980	Direction arrow pointing into opening of rectangular enclosure
	UIC	Direction arrow pointing into opening of rectangular enclosure
	CNIS	Direction arrow pointing into opening of rectangular enclosure
3)	British Rail	Direction arrow pointing into opening of rectangular enclosure
	ULB	Direction arrow pointing into opening of rectangular enclosure
	X'67	Direction arrow starting at opening of rectangular enclosure and pointing inside
	Picto'grafics	Direction arrow pointing towards opening of rectangular enclosure
	ISO 7001	Two lines with direction arrow pointing in
	Rathouský	Two vertical red lines with black arrow pointing inwards
	Icograda	Arrow pointing into arc and filling gap of arc
	Dreyfuss	Semicircle, arrow pointing towards center
	Pierce	Disk bisected by vertical bar in the middle

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

The collection shown above is only a fragment of the wide variety of pictograms used all over the world to signify Entrance or Way In. The number of graphic symbols available is far lower than for the Message Exit/Way Out, as often just specific pictograms representing the facilities or services found inside are used in combination with an arrow pointing in the direction of the entrance.

The number of test results found for this referent is also much lower than the ones available related to Exit:

Using the Production Method Gehringer (1979) explored which mental images or visual stereotypes exist concerning the message Entrance. More than 50 % of the subjects were not able to deliver responses or solutions without adding text. 43 % of the subjects offered either an opening with an arrow pointing inwards (33 %) or just an open door (10 %) The pattern of responses indicated notable difficulties caused by a missing typical visual stereotype.

In the ISO 1979/80 Test Series ten variants were examined using an Appropriateness Ranking Test (Easterby & Graydon, 1981 a) to identify the ones best suited for further reserch. The variant from Simlinger shown above and marked with 2) reached the best score in the follow up Comprehension Tests in several countries (Easterby & Graydon 1981 b). The Icograda entry labeled 1) seemed to be hard to comprehend for many subjects, as 31 % either did not respond or answered with Don't know. The British Rail version (labeled 3)) reached an even lower comprehension rate than the Icograda pictogram.

In a Matching Test with a set of 29 symbols (Zwaga & Boersema, 1983) the variant from the Dutch Railways (NS 1980) only reached about 55 % correct responses. A significant number of respondents selected the exit symbol presented instead of this symbol when asked which sign to follow when looking for the entrance.

A study about symbols for wayfinding in transit hubs in China including a Comprehension Test (An & Chan, 2017) reports about 79 % correct answers among Chinese respondents for a pictogram similar to public information symbol No 111: Entrance of ÖNORM A 3011 shown in the table above. So this pictogram seems to convey its message well enough to pass ISO minimum requirements for standardization.

Recommendations

We suggest to do more research in this field to identify the best symbol or pictogram for indicating the location of an entry point into an object. Only on such a basis a clear decision concerning a specific recommendation can be reached.

Tests of pictograms of referent Entrance

An, D. & Chan, E.H.W. (2017): Investigating the Comprehension of Public Symbols for Wayfinding in Transit Hubs in China. In: Rau, PL. (eds) Cross-Cultural Design. CCD 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10281. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57931-3_24

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 a): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO Test: 1979/80 Series. Part I: Appropriateness Ranking Tests. AP Report 99, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 b): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO 1979/80 Test Series. Part II: Comprehension/Recognition Tests. AP Report 100, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.

Gehringer, J. (1979): Untersuchung über die zeichnerische Gestaltung von Pictogrammen in Abhängigkeit von einigen Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen, sowie Überprüfung einiger Bildzeichen auf ihre Erkennbarkeit. Dissertation, Psychology Department, University of Vienna.

Zwaga, H.J. & Boersema, T. (1983): Evaluation of a set of graphic symbols. Applied Ergonomics, 14, 1, 43-54.