“I-I-I wanna rock and roll all night…. And party every day! I-I-…” Oh, sorry wrong KISS. The KISS principle stands for, “Keep it Simple Stupid,” and was designed to keep designs and/or systems as simple as possible. It’s used in many fields from science to marketing and advertising. Albert Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” This is the heart of the principle. It has also been called the, “Keep it Short & Simple,” and the “Keep it Simple & Straightforward” principle. It is also the same idea as Occam’s Razor that we’ve talked about in the past. All this being said, we should preface with the fact that some things are by nature complex. The point of this principle is to keep things as simple as possible when possible. Complexity should be avoided when it only exists for its own sake. Too often, people will overcomplicate things that shouldn’t be. If someone can’t explain to a kindergartener, then chances are they don’t truly understand either. The easier something is to understand; the more likely users will adopt and engage. We can all benefit from this method of thought in every aspect of our lives. There is something very genius about keeping it simple.
