Overkomplisering

Overkomplisering is a term used to describe the act or tendency to make something more complex than necessary. It is used in Danish and Norwegian contexts to describe processes, products, explanations, or policies that introduce additional layers of complexity that do not add meaningful value. The phenomenon is closely related to concepts like overengineering and excessive bureaucratization.

Causes include cognitive biases such as the desire to signal competence, fear of failure, or compliance with formal requirements; feature creep where new functionalities accumulate; heavy use of jargon or rigid procedures; misaligned incentives and lack of constraints; and poor problem framing that leads to solving the wrong problem or adding options rather than eliminating them.

Examples include software projects with multiple redundant layers and interfaces; corporate policies that require many approvals; legal documents with numerous boilerplate provisions; and meetings that reconstruct simple decisions through long agendas and complex rules.

Consequences include inefficiency and slower delivery, increased costs and maintenance, higher cognitive load for users, reduced reliability, and resistance to change.

Mitigation strategies emphasize simplification: define a clear problem statement, apply the KISS principle, limit scope with minimum viable product, modular and incremental design, progressive disclosure of information, and stakeholder-focused evaluation. Regular reviews to remove nonessential features and decisions, plus clear documentation of trade-offs, help reduce overkomplisering.

Related terms include overengineering, complexity, bureaucratization, and simplification.