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. An activity will be pursued only if its benefits are equal to or greater than the costs. (ie. How much reading is too much to get the point of a message?)






2. 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.






3. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






6. The debgree to which prose can be understood - based on the complexity of words and sentences.






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






8. 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.






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






10. As the flexiblity of a system increases - its usability decreases.






11. The use of simplified and incomplete models of a design to explore ideas - elaborate requirements - refine specifications - and test functionality.






12. A property in which a form is made up of parts similar to the whole or to one another.






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






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






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






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






17. A technique that influences decision making and judgement by manipulating the way information is presented.






18. The usability of a system is improved when its status and methods of use are clearly visible.






19. 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.






20. When participants realise the aim of the study and may change their behaviour to help or disrupt the study.






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






22. 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.






23. 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






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






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






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






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






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






29. A tendency to see objects and patterns as 3D when certain visual cues are present.






30. 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.






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






32. 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.)






33. A method of presentation in which information is presented in descending order of importance. (Critical information presented first).






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






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






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






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






38. Teh act of copying properties of familiar objects - organisms - or environments in order to realize specifice benefits afforded by those properties.






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






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






41. People tend to prefer savanna- like environments to other types of environments. Open areas - scattered trees - water - and uniform grassiness rather than other natural environments such as desert - jungle - and complex mtns.






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






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






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






45. Successful products typically follow four stages of creation: requirements - design - development - and testing.






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






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






48. 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)






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






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