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






2. A technique used to teach a desired behavior by reinforcing increasingly accurate approximations of the behavior.






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






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






5. 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.






6. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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


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






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






11. A process of repeating a set of operation until a specific result is achieved.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






34. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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






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






39. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. People understand and interact with systems and environments based on mental representations developed from experience.






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






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






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






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