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






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






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






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






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






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






7. 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.






8. 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.)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






21. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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






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






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






27. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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


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






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






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






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






33. 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.






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






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






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






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






38. 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?)






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






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






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


42. 1) Physiological 2) Safety 3) Love 4) Self-Esteem 5) Self-Actualization


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






44. People understand and interact with systems and environments based on mental representations developed from experience.






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






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






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






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






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






50. 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.