Concept

Institutional Complexity

"Institutional complexity refers to the cultural or microsocietal structures that exist within an organization, including norms, attitudes, roles, political tensions, sources of power, and institutionalized ways of doing things." Long-time users and domain experts often prefer legacy systems and established workflows over proposed changes. Because new designers typically lack the tenure and domain credibility of established staff, their input is frequently discounted or resisted by the organization, regardless of its merit.

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Updated 2026-07-10

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Design Science