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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






9. 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.






10. The act of measuring certain sensitive variable in a system can alter them - and confound the accuracy of the measurement.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


18. 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?)






19. 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.






20. 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






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






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






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






24. The visual clarity of text - generally based on the size - typeface - contrast - text block - and spacing of the characters used.






25. 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.






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






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






28. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






43. It is often preferable to settle for a satisfactory solution - rather than pursue an optimal solution.






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






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






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






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






48. 1) Physiological 2) Safety 3) Love 4) Self-Esteem 5) Self-Actualization


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






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