Wiktionary

baby duck syndrome

English edit

WOTD – 2 December 2022

Etymology edit

From the tendency of newly hatched ducks or other birds to imprint on the first thing they see.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

baby duck syndrome (uncountable)

  1. (computing, humorous) The tendency of computer users to think the system (software or usage paradigm) they originally started using is better than others.
    • 1991, Andrew W. Lai, “Graphical Decision Aids: Spreadsheets”, in Allen Kent, James G. Williams, editors, Encyclopedia of Microcomputers, volume 8 (Geographic Information System to Hypertext), New York, N.Y., Basel: Marcel Dekker, →ISBN, page 82:
      Lotus 1-2-3 has become the spreadsheet package chosen by most people and is still widely used. This is sometimes called the "baby duck syndrome," meaning that once a person uses one certain spreadsheet and becomes familiar with it, he will not try another package even though it may be easier to use and better suited to his needs.
    • 1993, Dr. Dobb’s Journal, page 78, column 3:
      The tools go back on the shelf, mostly unused, for a number of reasons, not just the baby-duck syndrome.
    • 2005 March 2, Peter Seebach, “The Cranky User: Baby Duck Syndrome: Imprinting on Your First System Makes Change a Very Hard Thing”, in IBM developerWorks‎[1], archived from the original on 19 April 2012:
      The phenomenon of baby duck syndrome is well known – it's what happens when users judge new and upcoming systems by comparing them with the first system they learned. This means that users generally prefer systems similar to those they learned on and dislike unfamiliar systems. […] This syndrome has substantial impact on user interface design. Developers must take into account previous user experiences to make users comfortable if they want these users to move or upgrade to their system. Baby duck syndrome can also make usability studies difficult as users familiar with a given system almost invariably describe deviations from it as confusing or problematic.
    • 2013 April 22, Ted Herman, “General Landscape of Computing Languages”, in A Functional Start to Computing with Python (Chapman & Hall/CRC Textbooks in Computing), Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, page 13:
      Most people acquainted with a personal computer system exhibit the baby duck syndrome. Ducklings (and birds generally) bond to the first caregiver they see, usually a parent duck. […] The same occurs with people who bond to one kind of computer system, say Windows or Mac, and become fixed on that system as the natural way that computers should be.
    • 2022, Chong Ho Alex Yu, “Cutting Edge Data Analytical Tools”, in Data Mining and Exploration: From Traditional Statistics to Modern Data Science (A Science Publishers Book), Boca Raton, Fla., New York, N.Y.: CRC Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 47:
      Frankly speaking, baby duck syndrome is detrimental because users block themselves from trying new and better methods, even though the learning curve of the new tool is worth the climb.

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