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






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






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






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






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






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






7. There are three ways to organize materials to support a load or to contain and protect something: Mass structures - frame structures - and shell structures.






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






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






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






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






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






13. 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.






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






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






16. An original model on which something is patterned






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






18. A term used to describe a set of data - that when plotted - forms a symmetrical - bell- shaped curve.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






36. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. 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.)






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






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






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






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