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






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






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






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






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






6. 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






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






8. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






14. 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.






15. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






17. 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.






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


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






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






22. 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.






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






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






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






26. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






44. 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.






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






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






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






48. Successful products typically follow four stages of creation: requirements - design - development - and testing.






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






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