Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated

Entry Point

A point of physical or attentional entry into a design.

People do judge books by their covers, Internet sites by their first pages, and buildings by their lobbies. This initial impression of a system or environment greatly influences subsequent perceptions and attitudes, which then affects the quality of subsequent interactions. This impression is largely formed at the entry point to a system or environment. For example, entering many Internet sites entails going through a slow-loading splash screen, followed by a slow-loading main page, followed by several pop-up windows with advertisements—all this to enter a site that may or may not have the information the person was looking for. Such errors in entry point design annoy visitors ...