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 objects and patterns as 3D when certain visual cues are present.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






9. 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.






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






20. 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.






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






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






23. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






38. 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.






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 teach a desired behavior by reinforcing increasingly accurate approximations of the behavior.






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






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






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


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






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


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


47. Adjusting parts of a device in relation to each other to create a sense of unity and cohesion.






48. 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.






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






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