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






2. 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.






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






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






5. A method of limiting the actions that can be performed on a system.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






26. Elements that are similar are perceived to be more related than elements that are dissimilar.






27. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






34. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






41. 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.






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






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






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






45. 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?)






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






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






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






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


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