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






2. The designs that help people perform optimally are often not the same as the designs that people find most desirable.






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






4. A process of repeating a set of operation until a specific result is achieved.






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






6. A phenomenon in which mental processing is made slower and less accurate by competing mental processes.






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






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






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






10. A process in which similar characteristics evolve independently in multiple systems.






11. Beauty in design results from purity of function. Interpreted in 2 ways: A description of beauty or a prescription for beauty.






12. A method of illustrating relationships and patterns in system behaviors by representing two or more system variables in a controlled way.






13. A phenomenon of memory in which items presented at the beginning and end of a list are more likely to be recalled than items in the middle of a list.






14. A technique for preventing unintended actions by requiring verification of the actions before they are performed.






15. A term used to describe a set of data - that when plotted - forms a symmetrical - bell- shaped curve.






16. Pictures are remembered better than words.






17. A Gestalt principle of organization holding that aspects of perceptual field that move or function in a similar manner will be perceived as a unit






18. The time it takes to make a decision increases as the number of alternatives increases.


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






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






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






22. The relative ease with which a destination - idea - or concept may be reached.






23. The distressing state of thought caused by recognizing an inconsistency between behavior/thought and value/belief.






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


25. A phenomenon of visual processing in which certain line orientations are more quickly and easily processed and discriminated than other line orientations.






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






27. A tendency to assume that a system that works at one scale will also work at a smaller or larger scale. (2 kinds: Load assumptions and Interaction assumptions)






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






29. 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.






30. Tendency to form an overall positive impression of a person on the basis of one positive characteristic






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






32. People understand and interact with systems and environments based on mental representations developed from experience.






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






34. The ratio of relevant to irrelevant information in a display. The highest possible signal- to- noise ratio is desirable in design.






35. A relationship between variables in a system where the consequences of an event are fed back in order to modify the event in the future.






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






37. Using more elements than is necessary to offset the effects of unknown variables which may cause a system failure.






38. Tendency to perceive a set of individual elements as a single - recogniable pattern - rather than multiple - individual elements.






39. The usability of a system is improved when similar parts are expressed in similar ways.






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






41. The tendency to perceive objects as unchanging - despite changes in sensory input. (such as perspective - lighting - color or size)






42. A relationship between controls and their movements or effects. When th effect corresponds to the expectation - the mapping is considered to be good or natural.






43. A technique for bringing attention to an area of text or image.






44. The visual clarity of text - generally based on the size - typeface - contrast - text block - and spacing of the characters used.






45. The use of more elements than necessary to maintain the performance of a system in the event of failure of one or more of the elements.






46. A property of visual equivalence among elements in a form.






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






48. A technique used to modify behavior by reinforcing desired behaviors - and ignoring or punishing undesired behaviors.






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






50. The process of organizing information into related groupings in order to manage complexity and reinforce relationships in the information.