What can we learn from shortcuts? | Tom Hulme

How do you build a product people really want? Allow consumers to be a part of the process. "Empathy for what your customers want is probably the biggest leading indicator of business success," says designer Tom Hulme. In this short talk, Hulme lays out three insightful examples of the intersection of design and user experience, where people have developed their own desire paths out of necessity. Once you know how to spot them, you'll start noticing them everywhere.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

[dickiemckay]

I've thought this since I was a young teenager. Designers of spaces near me seem to have no regard for what people will actually do!

They create these sweeping lines and curved paths and so on, and literally no one cares to stick to them.

[MN]

wait for snow, see tracks, pave in spring.
you're welcome

[joharifrontline]

Reminds me of a line from Jurassic Park "Life cannot be contained. Life breaks free, expands to new territories and crashes through barriers... Life finds a way." - Ian Malcom [Jeff Goldblum]

[jakoblindgren]

this got me thinking of the digital media of today. A few years ago we were downloading our games, music and movies, in part because it was free and in part because it was easier. The media industry responded hard and tried to stop us downloading to no avail. Today companies like Spotify and Netflix are now meeting our demands and almost every game is now sold via download

[xpyylgl]

Perfect!! his lecture is not merely concise, but also delivers the core

It' was very interesting Thank you

[JonasUllenius]

Design as things change.

The only thing that do not change is that things changes.

[PeterAnderton]

How does this not have more views! It’s excellent!

[Mikolaj_u]

Great talk! Mikael Colville-Andersen also talks about desire paths with regards to designing city for cyclists and pedestrians.

[michaellanga]

for the first time something that make sense to me .... Most importantly applicable great thinking machanism

[jayturner]

A good example of desire paths in technology would be Twitter with the RT function. Back in the day, people would just copy and paste the tweet, tagging the original tweeter with RT at the beginning. When Twitter introduced retweets, it ensured that retweets appear in this fashion on old APIs that don't support RT.

[ilkhgs]

Really, how much more needs to be said? Great vid/insight.

[Schtang]

Standing ovation? No. Perfect analgogy of my modern subconscious thinking? yes

[Shadowstray]

Haven't I seen this talk some five years ago?

[deedlessdeity]

I like unpaved paths more at times. Especially on greens.

[knotty]

The NIH building labeled "Oncology" is actually the library of medicine. The Clinical Center is at the other end of the campus. Also, this section is gated so you cannot walk from the library to the street. The "hotels" are townhouses and apartments. It's hard to believe anything else that is being said here.

[alwaysuseless]

What if you don't like walking (or running) on pavement? It's harder on the body. You can walk or run on either side of the paved path. If enough people do this, the denuded, unvegetated area increases. Not likely perhaps, but if "desire-path designers" responded by widening the pavement (contrary to our desires), then you'd have to run along the sides of the widened pavement, making the denuded strip still wider. Just saying people don't necessarily want everything paved or "improved, " and desire-path engineers may over-respond or overlook the desires of a significant minority.

[Drumsgoon]

also: bottom up versus top down design/policy

[renatobritto]

It's the first time i hear someone talk about my city (brasilia) outside of brazil. So weird, it seems we didnt existed.

[rafalg]

The trivia are interesting, but I thought he was going to show us some interesting examples of when figurative shortcuts make something better. "Design for real human needs" is very broad and rather obvious.

[ogczklp]

FROM GOOGLE TRANSLATOR:

In considering each design in second place after her first Purpose = EASY CLEAN FOR cleaners = problems will minimize

ЕСЛИ УЧИТЫВАТЬ В КАЖДОЙ КОНСТРУКЦИИ НА ВТОРОМ МЕСТЕ ПОСЛЕ ПЕРВОГО ЕЁ ПРЕДНАЗНАЧЕНИЯ =УДОБСТВА ЧИСТОТЫ ДЛЯ УБОРЩИКОВ ТО ПРОБЛЕМЫ СВЕДУТСЯ К МИНИМУМ...