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






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






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






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






5. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






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






10. A phenomenon of memory in which items presented at the beginning and end of a list are more likely to be recalled than items in the middle of a list.






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






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






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


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


15. 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.






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






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






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






19. 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.)






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






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






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






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






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






25. 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?)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






36. A ratio within the elements of a form - such as height to width - approximating 0.618.






37. 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.






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






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






40. 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.






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






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






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






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






45. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






47. 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.






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






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






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