- K.I.S.S. redirects here. For other uses, see Kiss (disambiguation).
The KISS principle (acronym for "Keep It Simple, Stupid") states that design simplicity should be a key goal and unnecessary complexity avoided. It serves as a useful principle in a wide array of disciplines, such as software development, animation, engineering, and strategic planning. Common variants of the acronym include: "Keep It Simple & Stupid", "Keep It Sweet & Simple", and "Keep It Short & Simple". The form "Keep It Simple, Silly" is sometimes used in situations (for example, explaining the phrase to children) where "stupid" is too harsh. Complexity should, very simply, be avoided: simplicity becomes a goal in itself. Extra features are not needed; an approach that seems "too easy to be true" is in fact the best way; a very straightforward approach may seem less glamorous and less dramatic but that trivial approach should indeed be taken; surprisingly the very obvious approach is often best.
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Related concepts
The principle is somewhat similar to Occam's razor, and Albert Einstein's maxim that "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."[1] Rube Goldberg machines illustrate the sorts of problems that may arise with "non-KISS," overly-complex solutions. Instruction creep and function creep are an example of failure to follow the KISS principle in software development.
An Example From Film Animation
Master animator Richard Williams explains the KISS Principle in his book The Animator's Survival Kit and Disney's Nine Old Men write about it in their "Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life" book which is considered "the animation bible" by cg, traditional, and stop motion animators. Inexperienced animators may "overanimate," or make their character move too much and do too much, such as carrying every accent over into body language, facial expression, and lipsync. Williams urges animators to "KISS."
See also
References
- ^ Hoch, Stephen (2004). Wharton on Making Decisions. New York: Wiley, 137. ISBN 0471689386.
- http://quotiki.com/quote.aspx?id=7923
- This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.
