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






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






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






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






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






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






7. The visual clarity of text - generally based on the size - typeface - contrast - text block - and spacing of the characters used.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






21. Teachers treat students differently based on their expectations of how students will perform.






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






23. 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.






24. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






28. 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?)






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






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






31. 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.






32. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






41. 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.






42. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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