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. 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






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






3. All products progress sequentially through four stages of existence: introduction - growth - maturity - and decline.






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






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






6. 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.






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






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






9. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






17. 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.






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






29. 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.






30. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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


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






33. The designs that help people perform optimally are often not the same as the designs that people find most desirable.






34. The usability of a system is improved when similar parts are expressed in similar ways.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






45. A technique of combining many units of information into a limited number of units or chunks - so that the information is easier to process and remember.






46. 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?)






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






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






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






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