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. A technique for preventing unintended actions by requiring verification of the actions before they are performed.






2. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






11. 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.






12. A preference for a particular ratio of waist size to hip size in men and women. Men prefer 0.7 in women. Women prefer 0.9 in men.






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






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






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






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






17. A technique used to teach a desired behavior by reinforcing increasingly accurate approximations of the behavior.






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






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






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






21. 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.






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






23. 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.






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






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






33. 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)






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






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






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






37. An original model on which something is patterned






38. A diagram that describes the general pattern followed by the eyes when looking at evenly distributed - homogeneous information.






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






40. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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


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