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 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






18. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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


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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






30. 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.






31. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






33. 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.






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






35. 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)






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






37. 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.)






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






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


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






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






42. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






48. Elements that are connected by uniform visual properties - such as color - are perceived to be more related than elements that are not connected.






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






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