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






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






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






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






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






6. An original model on which something is patterned






7. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






17. 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.






18. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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


32. A tendency to prefer faces in which the eyes - nose - lips and other features are close to the average of a population.






33. As the flexiblity of a system increases - its usability decreases.






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






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






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






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






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






39. 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?)






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. 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.






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






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






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






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