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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






10. 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.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






21. A sequence of numbers in which each number is the sum of the preceding two.






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






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






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






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






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






27. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






44. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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






48. An attribute of an object that allows people to intuitively know how to use it






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






50. 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)