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






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






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






4. 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?)






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






6. 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.






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






8. 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






9. It is often preferable to settle for a satisfactory solution - rather than pursue an optimal solution.






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






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






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






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






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






15. 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.






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






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






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






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






20. The level of control provided by a system should be related to the proficiency and experience levels of the people using the system.






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






22. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






29. 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.






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






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


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






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






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






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






36. A sequence of numbers in which each number is the sum of the preceding two.






37. Patients experience treatment effects based on their belief that a treatment will work.






38. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






41. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






45. 1) Functionality 2) Reliability 3) Usability 4) Proficiency 5) Creativity. In order for design to be successful - it must meet ppl's basic need before it can attempt to satisfy higher- level needs.






46. 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.






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






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






49. 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.






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