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. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






29. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






30. A Gestalt principle of organization holding that aspects of perceptual field that move or function in a similar manner will be perceived as a unit






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






32. Pictures are remembered better than words.






33. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






43. A technique of combining many units of information into a limited number of units or chunks - so that the information is easier to process and remember.






44. 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.






45. 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.






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






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






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






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






50. An original model on which something is patterned