Applying the KISS principle to design for learning.

As I sat back and admired my latest designs this morning, an email reminded me of the potential for over-elaboration. Just about 50 years ago when the space race was reaching its zenith, NASA needed a pen which would let astonauts write in zero gravity within a space capsule. After considerable research and development, they came up with the million dollar Astronaut Pen. It worked and had some commercial success as a novelty item back here on earth. Faced with the same problem, The Soviet Union used a pencil.

KISS, by the way, is an acronym popularly used in Sales Psychology and Design Wisdom. It stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid.