KISS principle
Related: KISS metrics, web-based software, and SMART metrics
- Visit My.ComMetrics.com, type in your blog’s URL and start tracking your performance – straight dashboard for straight answers.
- Step 1: Sign up and get the 90-day free trial. We follow the Keep it Simple, Stupid (KISS) principle to make your life easier.
The dashboard of a car measures key metrics that are critical to making your journey safe, comfortable and getting you where you want to be in a timely fashion. However, different designers use radically divergent approaches to this issue.
For instance, the Mini dashboard to the right gives you a lot of information. Time, speed and outside temperature are all neatly grouped as shown to the right. Beneath that, you see what your current fuel consumption is and a suggestion of what gear you should be in, among other things.
The BMW Concept CS to the left is another example of how far designers can go when trying to achieve superior comfort in the controls and displays. The new seat design houses elements of the car’s entertainment and communications features. In turn, this allows passengers to personalise things to improve comfort.
The approach for controls and displays in both the Mini and the BMW Concept CS seem to follow a minimalist mantra – or the Keep it Simple, Stupid (KISS) principle.
By contrast, the Acura to the right seems to use the opposite approach. Acura’s dashboard illustrates how all the same information can be presented through a wide variety of lights, toggles, gauges and metrics.
What does this mean for ComMetrics’ dashboard?
The car examples show that customer preferences result in vastly different car dashboard designs depending on the manufacturer. When designing ComMetrics, we tried to keep your preferences in mind, but we still followed the KISS principle. Therefore, no bells or whistles, but an ergonomically designed dashboard using a minimalist approach somewhere between the Mini and BMW examples above. Our goal is for you to be able to find the information you need quickly, without being distracted by too many buttons, toggles or gauges.
- My.ComMetrics.com provides you with the ‘GPS’ to find out where you stand and where you are going in comparison to your competition. It suggests the best gear to optimize your speed and gas consumption. The dashboard supports your efforts to arrive at your destination on time and in style.
