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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






34. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






36. 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?)






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






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






39. 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.






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






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






42. It is often preferable to settle for a satisfactory solution - rather than pursue an optimal solution.






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






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






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






46. 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.)






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






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






49. An original model on which something is patterned






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