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






3. 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?)






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






5. 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






6. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






16. 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.)






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






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






19. 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.






20. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






30. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






32. 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.






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






41. A tendency to interpret shaded or dark areas of an object as shadows resulting from a light source above the object.






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






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






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






45. 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.






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






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






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






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






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