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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






10. 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?)






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






12. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






23. 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)






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






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






26. 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.






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






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






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






30. The usability of a system is improved when its status and methods of use are clearly visible.






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






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






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


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






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






36. 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.






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






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






39. 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.






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






41. A term used to describe a set of data - that when plotted - forms a symmetrical - bell- shaped curve.






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


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






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






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






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






47. 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






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






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






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