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






2. 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.






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






4. 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.






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






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






7. 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.)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






18. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






19. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






34. 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.






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






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






37. 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?)






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






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






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






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 limiting the actions that can be performed on a system.






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






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






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






46. 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.






47. 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






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


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






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