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






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






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






4. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






18. 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.






19. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






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






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






24. 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.






25. 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.






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






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






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






29. 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)






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






31. 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.






32. All products progress sequentially through four stages of existence: introduction - growth - maturity - and decline.






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






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






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






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






37. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






47. The level of control provided by a system should be related to the proficiency and experience levels of the people using the system.






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






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






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