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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






11. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






17. An original model on which something is patterned






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






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






20. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. 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?)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. 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.






47. 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.






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






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






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