Editing KISS principle

{{Short description|Design principle preferring simplicity}}
{{Redirect|K.I.S.S.|other uses|Kiss (disambiguation)}}
'''KISS''', an [[acronym]] for "'''Keep it simple, stupid!'''", is a [[design]] principle first noted by the [[U.S. Navy]] in 1960.<ref name=TDal/><ref name=EPar/> First seen partly in [[American English]] by at least 1938, KISS implies that [[simplicity]] should be a design goal. The phrase has been associated with aircraft engineer [[Kelly Johnson (engineer)|Kelly Johnson]].<ref name=BRich/> The term "KISS principle" was in popular use by 1970.<ref name=Pit/> Variations on the phrase (usually as some [[euphemism]] for the more churlish "stupid") include "keep it super simple", "keep it simple, silly", "keep it short and simple", "keep it short and sweet", "keep it simple and straightforward",<ref name="monash">{{cite web | url=https://www.monash.edu/business/marketing/marketing-dictionary/k/kiss-principle |title=Kiss principle definition by MONASH Marketing Dictionary| date=1994-11-18 | access-date=2016-01-24}}</ref> "keep it small and simple", "keep it simple, soldier",<ref>{{cite book|title=Officers' Call |lccn=88655070 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t4TfAAAAMAAJ |date=1986 |publisher=Print Media Branch, Command Information Unit, Office, Chief of Public Affairs, HQDA |quote=Remember the adage KISS; Keep it Simple, Soldier}}</ref> "keep it simple, sailor", "keep it simple, sweetie",<ref>Sunday Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI) on November 4, 1973.</ref> "keep it stupidly simple", or "keep it sweet and simple".

==Origin==
The acronym was reportedly coined by [[Kelly Johnson (engineer)|Kelly Johnson]], lead engineer at the [[Lockheed Martin|Lockheed]] [[Skunk Works]] (creators of the [[Lockheed U-2]] and [[SR-71 Blackbird]] spy planes, among many others).<ref name=BRich/> However, the variant "Keep it Short and Simple" is attested from a 1938 issue of the ''[[Minneapolis Star]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-12-02 |title=Keep It Short and Simple (1938). |pages=20 |work=The Minneapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38577884/keep-it-short-and-simple-1938/ |access-date=2022-08-21}}</ref>

While popular usage has transcribed it for decades as "Keep it simple, stupid", Johnson transcribed it simply as "Keep it simple stupid" (no comma), and this reading is still used by many authors.<ref name=misra>Ram B. Misra (2004), "Global IT Outsourcing: Metrics for Success of All Parties", ''Journal of Information Technology Cases and Applications'', volume 6 issue 3, page 21. [http://eies.njit.edu/~jerry/Outsourcing/out-JITCA-6-3-2004-2.pdf Online version]. Retrieved 2009-12-19.</ref>

The principle is best exemplified by the story of Johnson handing a team of design engineers a handful of tools, with the challenge that the [[jet aircraft]] they were designing must be repairable by an average [[mechanic]] in the field under combat conditions with only these tools. Hence, the "stupid" refers to the relationship between the way things break and the sophistication available to repair them.

The acronym has been used by many in the [[List of military slang terms|U.S. military]], especially the [[List of U.S. Navy acronyms and expressions|U.S. Navy]] and [[United States Air Force]], and in the field of [[software development]].

==Variants==
The principle most probably finds its origins in similar [[Minimalism|minimalist]] concepts, such as:
* [[Occam's razor]];
* "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication";
* [[Shakespeare]]'s "Brevity is the soul of wit";
* [[Mies van der Rohe]]'s "[[Less is more (architecture)|Less is more]]";
* [[Bjarne Stroustrup]]'s "Make Simple Tasks Simple!";
* [[Dr. Seuss]]'s ode to brevity: "So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads";
* [[Johan Cruyff]]'s "Playing football is very simple but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is";
* [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]]'s "It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away";
* [[Colin Chapman]], the founder of [[Lotus Cars]], urged his designers to "Simplify, then add lightness";
* Attributed to [[Albert Einstein]], although this may be an editor's paraphrase of a lecture he gave,<ref>{{cite web|title=Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simpler|date=13 May 2011 |url=http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/05/13/einstein-simple/#more-2363|publisher=Quote Investigator}}</ref> "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler";
* [[Steve Jobs]]'s "<s>Simplify</s>, <s>Simplify</s>, Simplify",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Simplify Simplify Simplify Message on the wall of... |url=https://blog.ramonvullings.com/post/77099512035/simplify-simplify-simplify-message-on-the-wall-of |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Ramon Vullings - ideaDJ Blog |date=18 February 2014 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Makovsky |first=Ken |title=Inside Apple #2 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2012/12/06/inside-apple-2/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> which simplified [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s quote "Simplify, simplify, simplify" for emphasis;
* [[C._Northcote_Parkinson|Northcote Parkinson]], British academic and sometimes military officer and military critic, expressed this idea as "Parkinson's Third Law" ({{circa|1957}}): "Expansion means complexity and complexity, decay; or to put it even more plainly—the more complex, the sooner dead";

[[Heath Robinson]] contraptions and [[Rube Goldberg machine|Rube Goldberg's machines]], intentionally overly-complex solutions to simple tasks or problems, are humorous examples of "non-KISS" solutions.

==Usage==

===In film animation===
Master animator [[Richard Williams (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 ''[[Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life]]'', a considerable work of the genre. The problem faced is that inexperienced animators may "over-animate" in their works, that is, a character may move too much and do too much.  Williams urges animators to "KISS".

===In software development===
* [[Don't repeat yourself]] (DRY)
* [[Minimalism (computing)|Minimalism]]
* [[Unix philosophy]]
* [[Arch Linux]]
* [[Slackware Linux]]
* [[Chartjunk]]
* [[List of software development philosophies]]
* [[Reduced instruction set computing]]
* [[Rule of least power]]
* [[There's more than one way to do it]]
* [[Worse is better]] (Less is more)
* [[You aren't gonna need it]] (YAGNI)

===In politics===
* [[KISS NB|Keep It Simple Solutions, New Brunswick]], a [[Minor party|minor]] [[political party]] in [[New Brunswick]], [[Canada]]
* [[Keep It Straight and Simple Party]], a minor political party in [[South Africa]]

===In popular culture===
In the [[Filipino language|Filipino]] [[neo-noir]] film [[Dead Sure|''Segurista'']], KISS is invoked by Mrs Librada (played by [[Liza Lorena]]) as an approach to selling [[insurance]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Aguiluz Tikoy (Director)|date=1996 |title=Segurista |trans-title=Dead Sure |type=Motion picture |language=Filipino |time=00:03:39 |location=Philippines |publisher=Neo Films}}</ref>

In the American version of [[The Office (American TV series)|''The Office'']], [[Michael Scott (The Office)|Michael Scott's]] advice to [[Dwight Schrute]] before making any decision is KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid).

==See also==
* [[BLUF (communication)]]
* [[Concision]]
* [[Elegance]]
* [[The Fox and the Cat (fable)]]
* [[It's the economy, stupid]]
* [[Mini survival kit]]
* [[Muntzing]]
* [[Perfect is the enemy of good]]
* [[Simple living]]
* [[Ultralight backpacking]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="BRich">
   [https://www.nasonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/johnson-clarence.pdf ''Clarence Leonard (Kelly) Johnson 1910–1990: A Biographical Memoir''] (PDF),
   by Ben R. Rich, 1995, National Academies Press,
   Washington, DC, p. 13.
</ref>
<ref name="TDal">
   ''The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English'',
   Tom Dalzell, 2009, 1104 pages, p.595, webpage:
   [https://books.google.com/books?id=5F-YNZRv-VMC&pg=PA595 BGoogle-5F]:
   notes U.S. Navy "Project KISS" of 1960, headed by [[Rear Admiral]]
   Paul D. Stroop, ''[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]'', p.43, 4 December 1960.
</ref>
<ref name="EPar">
   ''The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang'', Eric Partridge,
   Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor, Psychology Press, 2007, p.384.
</ref>
<ref name="Pit">
   ''Pit & Quarry'', Vol. 63, July 1970, p.172, quote: "as in every
   other step of the development process, follow the KISS
   principle — Keep It Simple, Stupid."
</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Engineering approaches}}
{{Design}}

[[Category:Adages]]
[[Category:Programming principles]]
[[Category:Simple living]]
[[Category:Design]]