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






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






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






4. Elements that are similar are perceived to be more related than elements that are dissimilar.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






23. A process in which similar characteristics evolve independently in multiple systems.






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






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






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






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






28. 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)






29. 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.






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






38. 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






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






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






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






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






43. 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?)






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






45. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






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






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