“If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein
Crystals of ice – when examined under a microscope – reveal interesting patterns, shapes, formations, and astounding variation in terms of architecture and design. These transient creations of natural processes offer much instruction to inquisitive minds; they also demonstrate the role of complexity in different manifestations of the absolute, offer sparkling insight that could inform and guide various forms of human endeavor, and help mortal beings to develop ideas and uncover new principles. A journey in such domains of inquiry and discovery could – paradoxically – bring forth sets of contemporary ideas that coalesce into the KISS principle.
This very modern design sensibility encourages creators to adhere to simplicity – in a bid to promote unproblematic, direct communication – when they navigate design initiatives that output diagrams, sketches, and illustrations. “Keep It Simple, Stupid” also encases a philosophy underlined by inclusion of the essential, the necessary, and the minimal; this stance bears in mind the interests of end-users, stakeholders, students of design, reviewers and observers that operate in the domain of contemporary graphic creation. In light of this, we may invoke the KISS principle to generate different editions of effective flowchart diagrams.
Congested visual structures – when rendered inside flowcharts – impede acts of perception, destruct clarity of comprehension, and complicate the transmission of information from diagrams and illustrations. This assertion comprises the fount of motivation that propagates the implementation of KISS principle in design initiatives and creative campaigns. Therefore, creators of illustrations could elect to focus on key questions, and subsequently delineate certain lines of response through construction of flowcharts. For instance, business operators in the domain of logistics could assess key deliverables that spell maximum value to clients and customers. These results include the timed delivery of merchandise, consignments, and parcels to the doorsteps of customers, the use of appropriate packaging materials, unproblematic payment mechanisms, and other such outcomes. Hence, flowcharts that describe the business model must embrace the KISS principle and position of the said achievements at the center of the illustration. The subsequent efforts that complete the said business model must undergo molding to promote the results at every instance.
A marked absence of sub-text in design ventures can output stellar embodiments of the KISS principle. In line with this, design professionals could elect to create detailed sequences of process distinguished by attributes such as visual clarity and correct positioning. The absence of sub-text presents a defining feature of such illustrations; an actual rendition of such a stance can result in complex illustrations that magnify each component, constituent, and operational element. We could state that such a technique upholds certain key aspects of the KISS principle in that readers/reviewers can inspect each interaction/location/part of process depicted in the flowchart without prior knowledge of the system/process/technique detailed inside the illustration. In addition, a host of interesting insights could follow when reviewers observe detailed diagrams; such insight could power the creation of new segments of process/system/technique as part of the larger campaign to, for instance, expand a mechanism.
The judicious deployment of primary colors to signify stages inside flowcharts remains a primary technique that upholds the KISS principle. Architects and designers can utilize this stance to convey tracts of specialized information to readers and reviewers. For instance, we could consider a flowchart illustration designed to depict alternative models engineered to mirror a mainstream process (of factory production), for instance. The primary process – and its various accoutrements – can find representation inside large green panels etched inside flowchart; the alternative processes could take shape in panels variously hued in red, blue, yellow, and several other color combinations. The KISS principle operates in such illustrations in that the use of color enables readers to gain a clear sense of the mainstream and its many alternatives. The technical utility of such illustrations emerges when process operators seek to expand production volumes by deploying alternative methods.
Creative architects/designers could elect to implement the KISS principle selectively when outlining the basic structure of systems/processes inside flowcharts. This stance assumes a certain level of complexity that finds implementation in construction of the entire illustration. For instance, designers working on the structure of a website (or mobile app) could project the primary elements of these digital products inside an expansive, vertical linearity; the ancillary systems/processes (that aid the functional/aesthetic aspects of said products) can find expression in appropriate stretches that remain external to said linearity. This instance of design language can subsume a boundless variety of process complexity in the form of externalities. In fact, such a hybrid approach to modern design allows architects/designers to output creative/outstanding instances of the KISS principle inside connected illustrations. Subsequently, a similar technique could find application when designers embark on projects to apply the KISS principle on externals referred to above.
Clear, bold metrics could help designers to generate the foundations of functional illustrations that endorse the KISS principle. This technique empowers designers (and sponsors of design projects) to build processes that drive a singular thrust toward the achievement of metrics. For instance, operators of e-commerce services could endorse the KISS principle to design flowcharts that help them attain greater levels of profitability. Pursuant to this, operators could design key components of business strategy, competitive tactics, development programs, employee assessment programs, HR policies, and performance bonus structures to meld into high levels of enterprise profitability. Therefore, we could state that the structure (and content) of the flowchart promotes the constant attainment of said objective in every calendar quarter. Additionally, the illustration gains significance when designers seek to promote multiple metrics/objectives inside the flowchart as the part of the core vision that drives sponsor enterprises.
Design stances that promote a constant evaluation/assessment of the structures etched inside flowcharts can help propagate the spirit that animates the KISS principle. In this context, we may assume an ordered (but incremental) simplification of complex processes into clusters of information etched inside flowcharts. Such a stance can emerge in line with the advent of new developments/advances in technology, the evolution of the designer’s craft, the emergence of fresh perspectives on process design and performance, the fickle requirements of different markets, and changing imperatives built into the rhythms of modern commerce. Therefore, designers may implement a regime of constant assessments in terms of the utility/efficacy/efficiency of segments of extant systems/processes. Fewer components of process may emerge as a byproduct of such techniques, thereby enabling the KISS principle to manifest in the texture of process structures.
The ruminations encased in the paragraphs above enable readers to envisage the many intersections (and points of convergence) that emerge between creative instincts of design professionals, flowchart structure, and the hallowed KISS principle. Multiple variations in the application of said principle could manifest when designers execute segments of projects in experimental mode; these variations may embody combinations of ideas/insight that may follow a reductionist curve – this poses a clear and present risk arising from experiments.
Sponsors of projects and design professionals must collaborate to assess whether the KISS principle can drive effective flowchart design in all instances. Such assessments gain heft in light of the fact many expressions of modernity display higher levels of complexity and multiple layers of intricacy when compared to original editions. Therefore, said principle must find deployment in the right context to promote productivity.
