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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






11. 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.






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






13. A space that has territorial markers - opportunities for surveillance - and clear indications of activity and ownership.






14. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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


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






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






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






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






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






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






24. 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.






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






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






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


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






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






30. 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.






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






32. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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


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. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






50. A phenomenon in which perception and behavior changes as a result of personal expectations or the expectations of others. (Halo effect - Hawthorne effect - Pygmalion effect - Placebo effect - Rosenthal effect - Demand characteristics.)