Software Architect's Handbook

Origin of KISS

The creation of the principle is typically credited to the late Kelly Johnson, who was an aeronautical and systems engineer. Among other accomplishments, he contributed to aircraft designs for the Lockheed Corporation (now known as Lockheed Martin after its merger with Martin Marietta).

Though the principle is commonly communicated as Keep It Simple, Stupid, Kelly's original version didn't have a comma in it. The word Stupid wasn't intended to refer to a person.

Kelly introduced the principle by explaining to the engineers that the jet aircraft they were designing needed to be something that a man in the field could fix with basic training and common tools. The design needed to satisfy this requirement, which is understandable ...