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 relationship between controls and their movements or effects. When th effect corresponds to the expectation - the mapping is considered to be good or natural.






2. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






4. 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)






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






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






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






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






9. 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.)






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






19. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






32. The ratio of face to body in an image that influences the way the person in the image is perceived. (High = intelligent / Low = physical)






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






34. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






41. 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.






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






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






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


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






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






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






48. 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.






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






50. 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?)