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






2. 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.






3. 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






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






5. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






11. 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?)






12. An original model on which something is patterned






13. 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.






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






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






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






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






18. 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.






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






20. A term used to describe a set of data - that when plotted - forms a symmetrical - bell- shaped curve.






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






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






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






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






25. 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.)






26. The deliberate use of a weak element that will fail in order to protect other elements in the system from damage.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






36. When participants realise the aim of the study and may change their behaviour to help or disrupt the study.






37. 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.






38. 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.






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


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






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






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






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






44. Pictures are remembered better than words.






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






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


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






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






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






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