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






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






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






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






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






6. 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)






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






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


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






10. 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.






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


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






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






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






15. The deliberate use of a weak element that will fail in order to protect other elements in the system from damage.






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






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






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






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






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






23. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






33. 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.






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






35. Repeated exposure to stimuli for which people have neutral feelings will increase the likeability of the stimuli.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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