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






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






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






4. A tendency to prefer environments with unobstructed views (prospects) and areas of concealment and retreat (refuges).






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






12. 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.






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






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






15. 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.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






25. The process of organizing information into related groupings in order to manage complexity and reinforce relationships in the information.






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






27. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






39. 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.






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






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






42. 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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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