IT artifact bias: How exogenous predilections influence organizational information system paradigms

•We theorize that how one perceives IT artifact affordances shapes their cognitive bias.•We develop a simple instrument to assess this phenomenon (IT artifact bias).•IT artifact bias is shown to shade perceptions of IT processes and IT quality.•Two predictors (job role and IT complexity) systematically impact IT artifact bias.

Efforts in IS research have long sought to bridge the gap between the information technology (IT) function and strategic business interests. People perceive affordances (possibilities for action) in information technology artifacts differently as cognitive structures (schema) which bias individual focus. This study explores how an individual's tendency to perceive the ‘trees’ in an IT ‘forest’ (artifact preference) affects their assessment of efforts to achieve more effective IT outcomes. The effect is demonstrated using a relatively simple IT success model. Further, in a sample of 120 survey responses supported by ten semi-structured interviews, we demonstrate that job role and organizational IT complexity systematically impact artifact perception. A better understanding of IT artifact bias promises to help organizations better assess information systems.