A-Z Popular Blog UX Search »
Design
 Advertisements
Related Guides

5 Examples of a Desire Path

 , updated on
A desire path is a path that is carved into the ground by foot traffic. This is typically a shortcut that takes the path of least resistance between two commonly traveled points.

Design Failure

Desire paths are commonly used as an example of design that fails to consider user experience. This is often a fair analysis. However, in some cases desire paths violate reasonable design principles. For example, they may ignore property rights or cross roads at a dangerous point.

Natural Paths

Desire paths may be more useful and visually appealing than alternatives such as paved walkways. For example, a natural path through a playfield avoids destroying the field for recreation such as soccer.

Design by Desire Path

It is possible to leave a property without sidewalks until desire paths form and then pave them. This effectively allows pedestrians to design their own sidewalks.

Prevention

In many cases, designers have objectives beyond paving the most convenient routes for pedestrians. For example, a nature area may want to minimize the land footprint of trials to avoid fragmenting wildlife habitat. Prevention of desire trails may involve information campaigns, signs and barriers.

Path of Least Resistance

It is common to use the human tendency to take to path of least resistance in design. This may be intended to achieve commercial objectives. For example, a gift shop that offers the shortest path out of a museum.
Overview: Desire Path
Type
Definition
A path that is carved into the ground by foot traffic.
Also Known As
Desire line
Social trail
Herd path
Cow path
Bootleg trail
Related Concepts
Next: Design Principles

User Experience

This is the complete list of articles we have written about user experience.
Calm Technology
Choice Architecture
Color Theory
Context Of Use
Customer Design
Customization
Design
Design Principles
Desire Path
Discoverability
Emergent Design
Emotional Design
Ephemera Design
Ergonomics
Feature Fatigue
Gamification
Human Factors
Industrial Design
Learnability
Media Design
Modeless Design
Naive Design
Personalization
Product Design
Satisfaction Metrics
Sensation
Sensory Design
Target User
Task Analysis
User Analysis
User Engagement
More ...
If you enjoyed this page, please consider bookmarking Simplicable.
 

User Experience Design

A list of ux design techniques.

Design vs User Experience

The difference between design and user experience.

Personas vs Tribes

Two ways to understand customers or users.

Customer Service

The practice of managing interactions with customers.

User Experience Definition

A list of user experience definitions.

Satisfaction Metrics

Why satisfaction metrics work so well.

User Engagement

An overview of user engagement with examples.

User

A definition of user with examples.

User Experience Examples

A definition of user experience with examples.

Customer Experience

An overview of customer experience with examples.

Product Experience

The common types of product experience.

Customer Focus

A definition of customer focus with examples.

Tacit Needs

A definition of tacit needs with examples.

Experience Economy

A definition of experience economy with examples.

Critical To Quality

A definition of critical to quality with examples.

Perceived Value

The definition of perceived value with examples.

Experience Goods

The definition of experience good with examples.

Customer Service Improvement

The common ways to improve customer service.

Customer Service Improvement Plan

Detailed examples of customer service improvement plans.
The most popular articles on Simplicable in the past day.

New Articles

Recent posts or updates on Simplicable.
Site Map