Test your basic knowledge |

Design Principles

Subject : engineering
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A phenomenon in which mental processing is made slower and less accurate by competing mental processes.






2. A phenomenon of memory in which noticeably different things are more likely to be recalled that common things. (AKA Isolation/Novelty Effect)






3. Memory for recognizing things is better than memory for recalling things.






4. Elements that are close together are percieved to be more related than elements that are farther apart.






5. A method of reorganizing information to make the information simpler - more meaningful and easier to remember. (ie. First Letter - Keyword - Rhyme - Feature Name)






6. An attribute of an object that allows people to intuitively know how to use it






7. A tendency to interpret shaded or dark areas of an object as shadows resulting from a light source above the object.






8. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






9. A strategy for managing information complexity in which only necessary or requested information is displayed at any given time.






10. A tendency to see people and things iwth baby- faced features as more naive - helpless - and honest than those with mature features.






11. The tendency to see attractive people as more intelligent - competent - moral and sociable than unattractive people.






12. A phenomenon in which perception and behavior changes as a result of personal expectations or the expectations of others. (Halo effect - Hawthorne effect - Pygmalion effect - Placebo effect - Rosenthal effect - Demand characteristics.)






13. A technique of composition in which a medium is divided into thirds - creating aesthetic positions for the primary elements of a design.






14. A Gestalt law of organization; elements arrange in a straight line or a smooth curve are perceived as a group - and are interpreted as being more related than elements not on the line or curve.






15. A method of creating imagery - emotions - and understanding of events through an interaction between a storyteller and an audience.






16. An original model on which something is patterned






17. A tendency to prefer faces in which the eyes - nose - lips and other features are close to the average of a population.






18. Given a choice between functionally equivalent designs - the simplest design should be selected.


19. The tendency for people to perform better or worse based on the expectations of another.






20. A method of limiting the actions that can be performed on a system.






21. Designs should help people avoid errors and minimize the negative consequences of errors when they do occur.






22. A technique of combining many units of information into a limited number of units or chunks - so that the information is easier to process and remember.






23. A technique used to teach a desired behavior by reinforcing increasingly accurate approximations of the behavior.






24. All products progress sequentially through four stages of existence: introduction - growth - maturity - and decline.






25. Elements perceived as either figures (objects of focus) or ground (the rest of the perceptual field)






26. Hierarchical organization is the simplest structure for visualizing and understanding complexity.






27. 1) Physiological 2) Safety 3) Love 4) Self-Esteem 5) Self-Actualization


28. The process of using spatial and environmental information to navigate to a destination.






29. A method of managing system complexity that involves dividing large systems into multiple - smaller self- contained systems.






30. The tendency for people to behave differently when they know they are being studied






31. An action or ommission of action yielding an unintended result.






32. A preference for a particular ratio of waist size to hip size in men and women. Men prefer 0.7 in women. Women prefer 0.9 in men.






33. The quality of system output is dependent on the quality of system input.






34. Teachers treat students differently based on their expectations of how students will perform.






35. Repeated exposure to stimuli for which people have neutral feelings will increase the likeability of the stimuli.






36. A space that has territorial markers - opportunities for surveillance - and clear indications of activity and ownership.






37. A tendency to interpret ambiguous images as simple and a complete unit - versus complex and incomplete. (Gestalt principle of perception).






38. Elements that are connected by uniform visual properties - such as color - are perceived to be more related than elements that are not connected.






39. A diagram that describes the general pattern followed by the eyes when looking at evenly distributed - homogeneous information.






40. There are five ways to organize information: Category - time - location - alphabet - and continuum.






41. Elements that are similar are perceived to be more related than elements that are dissimilar.






42. The use of pictorial images to improve the recognition and recall of signs and controls.






43. A phenomenon of memory in which information that is analyzed deeply is better recalled than information that is analyzed superficially.






44. The greater the effort to accomplish a task - the less likely the task will be accomplished successfully.






45. A ratio within the elements of a form - such as height to width - approximating 0.618.






46. The time required to move to a target is a function of the target size and distance to the target.


47. A point of physical or attentional entry into a design. (Minimal Barriers - Points of Prospect - Progressive Lures)






48. An ability to detect threatening stimuli more efficiently than nonthreatening stimuli.






49. There are three ways to organize materials to support a load or to contain and protect something: Mass structures - frame structures - and shell structures.






50. A state of mental focus so intense that awareness of the 'real' world is lost - generally resulting in a feeling of joy and satisfaction.