KISS principle (Keep it simple stupid)

KISS is an acronym for "Keep it simple, stupid" as a design principle noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960. A related concept in science that dates to the 13th century is Occam's razor that states that among hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.

Many have found this to be a valuable best practice in many fields from designing products or software to designing production lines and quality control.

If something is designed as simple as possible it is easier to repair, maintain and understand. If a process is designed as simple as possible it is easier to use, change or train people to use.

KISS & Software Design

The Apache Software Foundation discusses why KISS is important in software design.

Computer Hope, a free “technical support” computer information website states they use KISS in their website design and discuss applying KISS to website design, software programming and products

More information on KISS

• Wikipedia page on KISS
• Wikipedia page on Occam's razor