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






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






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






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






5. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






13. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






21. 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.






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






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






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






25. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






31. The tendency to perceive objects as unchanging - despite changes in sensory input. (such as perspective - lighting - color or size)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






40. Teachers treat students differently based on their expectations of how students will perform.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






48. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






49. 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.






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