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






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






3. 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.






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






11. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






14. 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.






15. 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.






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


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






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






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






20. 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.






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


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






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






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






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






26. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






37. A sequence of numbers in which each number is the sum of the preceding two.






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






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






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






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






42. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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