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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


11. 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.






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






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


14. A Gestalt principle of organization holding that aspects of perceptual field that move or function in a similar manner will be perceived as a unit






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






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






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






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






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






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






21. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






24. 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)






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






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






27. 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?)






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






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






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






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






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






33. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






35. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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