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






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


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






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






5. Teachers treat students differently based on their expectations of how students will perform.






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






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






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






9. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






21. 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.






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






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






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






25. Elements perceived as either figures (objects of focus) or ground (the rest of the perceptual field)






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






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






28. A state of mental focus so intense that awareness of the 'real' world is lost - generally resulting in a feeling of joy and satisfaction.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






41. 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)






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






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






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






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






46. 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.






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






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






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


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