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






2. 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.






3. An ability to detect threatening stimuli more efficiently than nonthreatening stimuli.






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


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






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






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






8. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






21. 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.






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






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






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






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






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


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






28. Teachers treat students differently based on their expectations of how students will perform.






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






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






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






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






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






34. 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)






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






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






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






38. 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.






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






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






41. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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