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






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






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






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






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






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






7. 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.






8. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






22. The usability of a system is improved when its status and methods of use are clearly visible.






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






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






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






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






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






28. A strategy for managing information complexity in which only necessary or requested information is displayed at any given time.






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


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






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






32. An original model on which something is patterned






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






34. A property in which a form is made up of parts similar to the whole or to one another.






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






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






37. 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.






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






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






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






41. 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






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






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






44. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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