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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






16. 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.






17. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






33. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






43. 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.






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






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






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

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






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. 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)






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