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






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






3. 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.






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






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






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






7. 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.






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






9. 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?)






10. A property of visual equivalence among elements in a form.






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


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






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






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






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






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






17. 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.






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






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






20. The relative ease with which a destination - idea - or concept may be reached.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






30. 80% of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20% of the variables.






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






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






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






34. 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






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






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






37. 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.






38. A technique of composition in which a medium is divided into thirds - creating aesthetic positions for the primary elements of a design.






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


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






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






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






43. Using more elements than is necessary to offset the effects of unknown variables which may cause a system failure.






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






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


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






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






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






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






50. Patients experience treatment effects based on their belief that a treatment will work.