USE-RELATED COMPUTER FAILURES SURVEY

QUESTION AND ANSWER TEST

Question 1: What is the purpose of a properly designed real time, safety critical user interface?

1. To give the user as much information as possible on screen all the time
2. To make the user as comfortable as possible in their environment (e.g by providing animated cursors and 'nice' sounds)
3. To only give the user the data that is important for the current situation

ANSWER

Question 2: Which of following statements about design are true?

1. HCI failures can be reliably predicted at the design stage with no need for useage simulation
2. The designer must have experience in using a system of the type he / she is designing
3. Layout information should reflect physical layout in real world where appropriate

ANSWER

Question 3: What statement would best describe the infulence of interface appearence on a non-technical user?

1. The appearence of the system is the system
2. The more attractive the interface, the more functional it becomes
3. The less visable a feature, the less it will be used.

ANSWER

Question 4: In which situation below are we exposing ourselves to risk?

1. Using a word processor to write a letter
2. Relying on an autopilot to fly an aircraft
3. Making a remote banking transaction over a modem

ANSWER

Question 5: Which of the following, relating to computer risks, is true?

1. A carefully designed system can be built to pose no risk
2. Risk is always present, we must use usability heuristics to evaluate whether or not this level of risk is acceptable
3. Risk is always present and not quantifiable, hence we should ignore risk evaluation

ANSWER

Question 6: Which three techniques constitute Discount Usability Engineering?

1. User testing, interface inspection & formal usability inspection
2. Scenarios, simplified thinking aloud & heuristic evaluation
3. Scenarios, cognitive walkthrough & consistency inspection

ANSWER

Question 7: In the context of scenario prototyping, which statements are true?

1. Vertical prototypes reduce the level of functionality, and result in a User Interface layer
2. Horizontal prototypes represent the full range of features and functionality of a system
3. The intersection between horizontal and vertical prototypes results in the scenario.

ANSWER

Question 8: Which of the following set of hueristics are most applicable to fly-by wire aircraft design?

1. User freedom, modelessness and clearly marked exits
2. WYSIWYG and ability to perfom redos
3. Correctness, speed of response and visability of system status

ANSWER

Question 9: In the example where a ',' being mistaken for a '.' resulting in a patient receiving 1000 times too high a dose of radiation, what is the major source of error?

1. User error
2. HCI design error
3. Machine error

ANSWER

Question 10: What heuristics does Peter Neumann consider most important in explaining usability problems?

1. Maximize information on screen & minimise the use of graphical representation
2. Feedback for the system, natural interaction and appearance & ability to go back on wrong actions
3. Allow interface to be completely customizable & reduce data feedback to user

ANSWER