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. 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.






2. 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)






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






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






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






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






7. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






23. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






31. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






33. 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.






34. A tendency to see objects and patterns as 3D when certain visual cues are present.






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






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






37. People understand and interact with systems and environments based on mental representations developed from experience.






38. 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?)






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






40. The ratio of relevant to irrelevant information in a display. The highest possible signal- to- noise ratio is desirable in design.






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






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






43. 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.






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






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






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






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


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






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






50. 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.