Desire paths are the trails people create when they skip the paved walkways and take the shortcut they want. These unplanned paths show us what truly works for people—not what was officially designed. They’re a natural, honest response to what feels right.

A human-first approach means noticing these shortcuts and learning from them. Instead of forcing people to follow a set path, smart brands can adjust to make things easier and more natural. Just like city planners who turn well-used trails into proper sidewalk. 

One example of a desire path – which you can find on the wonderful subreddit r/desirepath – comes from Ohio State University. The story goes that the University Architect waited patiently for winter before using a hot air balloon to get a bird’s eye view of the intricate web of criss-crossing trails that students had carved in the snow. Their findings were then used in the configuration of the more formal network of paved walkways. This way the university paved its paths based on student’s ‘desire paths’, which is a great example of human centric design.