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 illustrating relationships and patterns in system behaviors by representing two or more system variables in a controlled way.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






22. Elements that are connected by uniform visual properties - such as color - are perceived to be more related than elements that are not connected.






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






24. 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.






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






26. 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.






27. 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.)






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






29. 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.






30. 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.






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






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






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






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






35. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






36. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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


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


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






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






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






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






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






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






50. 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)