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






2. 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.)






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






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






5. 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.






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






7. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






15. Elements that are close together are percieved to be more related than elements that are farther apart.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. 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.






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






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






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






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






32. 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.






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






40. 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?)






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






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






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






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






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






46. Repeated exposure to stimuli for which people have neutral feelings will increase the likeability of the stimuli.






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


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






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






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