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






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






3. 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






4. An ability to detect threatening stimuli more efficiently than nonthreatening stimuli.






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






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






7. 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.






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






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






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






11. 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.






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






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






14. 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.






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






16. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






25. A preference for a particular ratio of waist size to hip size in men and women. Men prefer 0.7 in women. Women prefer 0.9 in men.






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






27. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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






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






32. A method of creating imagery - emotions - and understanding of events through an interaction between a storyteller and an audience.






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






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






35. 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?)






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






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


38. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






45. A technique for preventing unintended actions by requiring verification of the actions before they are performed.






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






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






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






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






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