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






2. A tendency to prefer environments with unobstructed views (prospects) and areas of concealment and retreat (refuges).






3. 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.






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


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






6. 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.






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






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 technique used to asociate a stimulus with an unconscious physical or emotional response.






10. Pictures are remembered better than words.






11. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. 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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






41. 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?)






42. The ratio of face to body in an image that influences the way the person in the image is perceived. (High = intelligent / Low = physical)






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






44. The act of measuring certain sensitive variable in a system can alter them - and confound the accuracy of the measurement.






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






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






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






48. 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.






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






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.