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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






9. 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.






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






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






12. 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.






13. 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.






14. 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.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






26. 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.






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






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






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






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






31. 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.)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






46. 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.






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






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






49. An original model on which something is patterned






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