Prof. Thomas Eagar said the following during one of his lectures in Fabrication Technology: "Always keep things simple, that's why complex system doesn't work." Aha... He was alluding to the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) concept. People familiar with software programming are immediately familiar with the KISS expression. Programmers are constantly reminded that implementing less code is more. In terms of generic designing, the simplicity philosophy brings consistency and durability to a design. Some of the most elegant designs are simple, take Apple's iPod as an example. But the mention of simplicity sparked my curiosity in how KISS is discussed in my System Engineering class. With all our big discussions on system/product designs and methodologies in my System Engineering class, why hasn't KISS been explicitly mentioned in class? But a closer examination reveals that the KISS concept is indeed well entrenched albeit implicit in the tools and frameworks that we learned from System Engineering. For example, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) advocates the design of a set of specifications that meets customer expectations by actively listening to the voice of the customer. So not implementing a product with extra features that customers don't want adheres to the philosophy of less is more or KISS. In Lean Thinking, the advocacy of simplicity is more obvious, although Lean practitioners would call it value driven and waste reduction. In the terms of applying a sound design framework, a designer simply can't go wrong with a simple design guideline like KISS.

8/11/2005 11:57:37 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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