The "Baby Duck Syndrome" as a Cognitive Bias in User-Interface Interaction

Nowadays many usability papers focus on various aspects of the computer or mobile interface. Nevertheless, it is important to study the psychological characteristics of the user because this directly affects user-interface relationships. The purpose of this research is to verify the influence of the cognitive bias named “baby duck syndrome” on this interaction. The hypothesis is that the user prefers the interface design with which he first interacted. To test the idea, a sample of 136 people is divided into four groups. Two of them are experimental and interact in turn with two different versions of the Airbnb application. The other two groups are control and work with only one type of interface. The time interval between the first and second interactions is one week, but during this period additional tasks are sent to form a user experience. Before and after this interrelation, subjects fill out the questionnaire “System Usability Scale”. After data processing, it is revealed that the old version of the interface is rated significantly higher than the new one, regardless of the type of presenting. Significant differences are also found for the control group interacting with the new version of the application, the second rating of which was higher than the first. Thus, the research hypothesis has not been confirmed, but some results nevertheless suggest that "the baby duck syndrome" may exist.