Industrial and Product Design Ergonomics & Human Factors 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which principle of human factors design states that displays should map logically to their corresponding controls?
- Fitts's Law
- Population stereotype
- Compatibility principle (Correct answer)
- Signal detection theory
Correct answer: Compatibility principle
The compatibility principle holds that the spatial or conceptual relationship between controls and their displays should match user expectations to reduce errors.
Question 2: Fitts's Law predicts that the time to acquire a target is affected by:
- Target color and contrast
- Target distance and size (Correct answer)
- User handedness and dominant eye
- Background noise and lighting
Correct answer: Target distance and size
Fitts's Law states that movement time increases with greater distance to the target and decreases as target size increases, commonly applied to UI and tool design.
Question 3: A designer sets the optimal viewing angle for a control panel display at 15° below the horizontal line of sight. This is based on which ergonomic principle?
- Color contrast optimization
- Normal line of sight in a relaxed head position (Correct answer)
- Maximum peripheral vision angle
- Minimum glare reflection angle
Correct answer: Normal line of sight in a relaxed head position
The natural resting position of the eyes is approximately 10°–15° below horizontal, so placing primary displays in this zone reduces neck and eye strain.
Question 4: Which handle design characteristic most effectively reduces grip fatigue during prolonged tool use?
- A highly polished metal surface for durability
- A diameter matched to the hand size of the target user (Correct answer)
- A tapered profile that is widest at the tip
- A handle longer than the user's hand span
Correct answer: A diameter matched to the hand size of the target user
A handle diameter matched to the user's grip span maximizes contact area, distributes force evenly, and minimizes the muscular effort required to maintain grip.
Question 5: The concept of 'affordance' in product design, introduced by James Gibson and popularized by Don Norman, refers to:
- The cost-benefit ratio of a product's features
- The perceived properties of an object that suggest how it should be used (Correct answer)
- The lifespan of a product before it requires replacement
- The range of users a product is priced to reach
Correct answer: The perceived properties of an object that suggest how it should be used
An affordance is a relationship between an object's physical properties and a user's perception of possible actions, such as a door handle that signals pulling.
Question 6: In noise exposure assessment for product design, the A-weighting filter is applied because:
- It amplifies low-frequency sounds for better measurement accuracy
- It approximates the human ear's sensitivity across frequencies (Correct answer)
- It eliminates background noise from measurements
- It converts sound pressure levels to decibels
Correct answer: It approximates the human ear's sensitivity across frequencies
The A-weighting filter mimics the frequency response of the human auditory system, giving more weight to mid-range frequencies where hearing is most sensitive.
Question 7: When designing for legibility of text on a display panel, which factor has the greatest impact on reading speed at a fixed viewing distance?
- Font color relative to background (contrast ratio) (Correct answer)
- Number of font typefaces used on the panel
- Alphabetical ordering of text items
- Panel surface texture
Correct answer: Font color relative to background (contrast ratio)
High luminance contrast between text and background is the dominant factor for legibility, as it determines the visual signal available to the reader.
Industrial and Product Design Ergonomics & Human Factors 2
Which principle of human factors design states that displays should map logically to their corresponding controls?