Why Do People Hate Change?
“The key to habit is a lost handcuff.” This word uttered by Amos Parrish is one of the best determinations in terms of telling the nature and power of our habits. The biggest issue of people of all ages and classes in daily life is the helplessness of not getting rid of the bonds created by habits. Habit gives us confidence, comfort, anxiety-free state of knowing / knowing. When faced with something new, it is only possible to see if it fits us and the risks it carries for us, in a time-consuming discovery process and by taking the risks involved. This is a situation that people whose greatest concern in today’s digital technology is based on the concept of time will not want to approach at all.
Why Are Living Beings Not Willing to Give Up Their Habits?
A term that has become popular in the information industry in recent years is quite meaningful to express the resistance of users to change. “Baby duck syndrome” sees users’ comfort or safety in situations outside of their habituality as a threat to their comfort or safety, just as ducklings mimic the first active being they see as they hatch and adopt their behavior
Baby duck syndrome takes its name from the “reprinting theory” of the famous Austrian psychologist, etiologist Konrad Lorenz. Lorenz explains the theory of printing termically as follows:
“Printing (Imprinting):
1. Very fast, relatively consistent, orderly learning that takes place in the early stages of life and is specific to the species.
2. Stimulation of innate, instinctive behavioral structures such as attachment to parents in important periods of life. “
Although Lorenz has determined that printing shows a strong presence among creatures such as ducks and geese, he also revealed that this effect exists in many other living things. Lorenz’s printing theory is expressed as follows among informatics users: Any system or application user will always search for the first application or system in the experience and applications after which he / she first started and recognized and integrated with it. Even extensive updates within the application used can be met with serious discontent by users. It is possible to see many times on social media that users create complaint hashtags about various applications. The term equivalent of this comprehensive situation in terms of user psychology is “baby duck syndrome.”
Baby Duck Syndrome
It is normal for people not to be willing to embark on a new adventure full of unknowns from an environment and situation in which they have long been familiar and feel comfortable. The reality that cannot be ignored here is this: it is against the laws of nature to continue continuously under the same system and conditions, because life is constantly moving in a change and transformation, and having current innovations is possible by being open to new systems and experiences. In this respect, being willing to get to know the new and making a little effort is actually the smartest way for a human being. But the world of people is not dominated by rational logic, but by pragmatic emotional tendencies that take into account comfort.
What Can Be Done to Make Users Willing to Change?
A) People will be more willing to change if they can be convinced that what they will acquire as new is more useful / advantageous.
B) If the users are guided in the transition to the new application or system and their suggestions for change are received, it may make these users more enthusiastic in transition to the new one.
C) Designing transitions where users will not be forced on the basis of demo studies and data obtained through user surveys before the full change decreases user discontent and provides a positive response to the change.
D) When changes are required, it would be better to make changes piece by piece and in increments that will not cause discomfort to the user, rather than doing it comprehensively. In particular, it is known that Facebook makes its changes in this way.
Finally, the following principle should never be ignored in the changes to be made; If the changes to be made will provide new conveniences and advantages to the users and the system itself, they should be implemented, otherwise, the users should be prepared for the great discontent and escape.
