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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






14. 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.






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






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






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






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






19. There are three ways to organize materials to support a load or to contain and protect something: Mass structures - frame structures - and shell structures.






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






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






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






23. 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.)






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






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






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


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






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






29. 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.






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. An original model on which something is patterned






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






48. 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.






49. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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