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






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






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






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






5. 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)






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






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






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






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






10. 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?)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






24. 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






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






26. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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


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






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






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






32. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






42. 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.






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






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






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






46. 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.






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






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






49. 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.






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