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






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






4. Teh act of copying properties of familiar objects - organisms - or environments in order to realize specifice benefits afforded by those properties.






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






6. A method of limiting the actions that can be performed on a system.






7. 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.






8. 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?)






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


10. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






24. 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.






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






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






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






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






29. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






37. 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.






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






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






40. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






41. 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.






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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