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






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






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






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






5. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


18. 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.






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






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






21. 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






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






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 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.






25. An original model on which something is patterned






26. 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.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






37. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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 relationship between variables in a system where the consequences of an event are fed back in order to modify the event in the future.






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






50. 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.