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. The debgree to which prose can be understood - based on the complexity of words and sentences.






2. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






13. A phenomenon in which perception and behavior changes as a result of personal expectations or the expectations of others. (Halo effect - Hawthorne effect - Pygmalion effect - Placebo effect - Rosenthal effect - Demand characteristics.)






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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


26. 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?)






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






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






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






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






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






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






33. 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)






34. 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.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






48. The use of pictorial images to improve the recognition and recall of signs and controls.






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






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