“Keep it simple” has its origins in similar concepts, such as Occam’s razor and quotes from Leonardo da Vinci and Mies Van Der Rohe, who said, respectively, that “simplicity is the russia number sophistication” and that “less is more.” However, KISS is an acronym for “Keep it simple, stupid,” a design principle that originated in the U.S. Navy in the 1960s—the phrase is from engineer Kelly Johnson.
The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than complicated. Therefore, simplicity should be a fundamental design goal and unnecessary complexity should be avoided.
The KISS (Keep It Simple) Principle is self-descriptive and recognizes two things:
People – the users of products and services – generally want simple things, things that are easy to learn and use;
The company that manufactures products or provides services also has a lot to bring to itself the concept of “keep it simple”, since it tends to reduce time and reduce internal costs.
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In programming, a solution that follows the KISS principle may seem boring or even “stupid,” but it is simple and understandable. However, in most cases the value of a solution is not greater because it is “clever,” but because it is easily understandable.
Modern programming languages, frameworks, and APIs provide powerful tools for creating sophisticated solutions to many types of problems. Sometimes, developers may be tempted to write “clever” solutions that use all of these complex features. The KISS principle states that a solution is better when it uses fewer gimmicks. This includes greater readability, understandability, and variability.
Another argument that favors simpler solutions is that, unlike a complex solution, they are easier to maintain. Furthermore, by writing simpler code, for example, the programmer will be less prone to errors.
The advantage of simplicity is even greater when the person maintaining the software is not the person who originally wrote it. Simple programs are easier to maintain because the maintainer needs less time to understand them, so the likelihood of defects in the long run is much lower. In addition, the maintainer does not need to be fully familiar with the sophisticated features of the programming language, meaning fewer resources are wasted.
Advertising and Marketing
We live surrounded by many advertising campaigns and marketing strategies, and it is almost impossible to escape them, as they constantly follow us through visual, auditory, audiovisual and even olfactory means – and this can welcome, irritate, move and seduce us, which means that before we know it, there we are again, involved with another brand.
Often, it only takes a few seconds or a glance to be caught up in a fantastically simple story or a sound that captivates us with all its simplicity – because the routine itself is complicated enough.
Anyone who works in advertising, especially those who are dedicated to strategy and creativity, knows how important this magic word is – simplicity. In fact, it is one of the most basic principles of a good advertiser – being able to understand the issue, thoroughly studying the target audiences as well as the behavior of consumers of their client's services or products, and having the power to define what really matters in order to reach a summary, without getting lost in the complexity of the data at their disposal. Simplicity is directly linked to knowledge of the facts, but also to transparency and clarity.
That is why the KISS principle is so appropriate in this area. For a successful advertising process, the ideal is to avoid the temptation to say everything. But getting to the simple can be very complex, because summaries are the result of a research process, the culmination of discussions and opinions, choices and visions. For this very reason, the KISS principle should not be confused with “simplification”, that is, it can be quite complicated to get there, but what matters is to summarize the problem to its essentials, removing what is merely accessory.
Branding
One success story that brought branding to simplicity is that of Federal Express, a postal service company. Through a renaming strategy, it became known as FEDEX. First, it changed the name of its vans and planes, then changed the logo, and, after it was well received, changed the name of the company. Because it is a diminutive and short, FEDEX began to sound like a more familiar brand.