Why ‘Desire Paths’ are defining digital design?

When thinking about design it is often the purely visual aspect that is the client’s focus, simply asking us to create something that is visually appealing. The brief hasn’t asked us to consider the end user experience or the interaction the audience will have. However, as designers, we must consider this to be one of the most compelling areas to focus on because the majority of people will remember an actual experience over something visual. Our design should not challenge learned behaviours as this results in a loss of interest, or worse, a loss in purchase.

To illustrate this point, a great example found in our everyday lives is to consider the experience whilst walking in parks or older planned towns. We start by following a defined path only to then find an informal path that either deviates or seems to suddenly appear without prompt of a planned pathway. These unplanned paths have been created over time due to the walker wanting a shorter route to their destination. These are perfect examples of how the pathways were planned with a primary focus on the aesthetics within their environment, rather than how their users would want to interact with them. As a result of such a common and increasing occurrence of this phenomenon it has actually garnered a name: a ‘Desire Path’.

The desire path is formed when a user deviates from the planned design, with either good or bad intention, but with intention all the same. Theoretically, the design may make sense to the creators, however in practice, the design will continue to fall short for the user – but why? Human nature, of course.

Most users share the same driver for deviation: inconvenience. Whether it be the inconvenience of time or effort it is the driving force behind the way they interact with the design. This driving force of user experience leads us to ask the question: “so how do we design for this then?”. The answer is simply to follow the path of least resistance. Design is not subjective or partial to a brand’s specific area of business, but rather, it transcends all such areas.

Inertia is the biggest threat! Too many clicks, or needing to look for the next button, is all it takes for people to abandon the interaction. To counter this designers should be looking to ‘pave the cowpaths*’. By doing this we will enhance what users are already doing and ensures that we support the most common desire paths.

We cannot always accurately predict a user’s behaviour but once we view the behaviour, good or bad, we should immediately action any shortfall and change the design for a better user experience. Always remember if you have a direct competitor whose site is easy to use, the likelihood is they will go and use that site!

Neil Sheppard, an experienced UX content strategist, advises “If there is one founding principle of user experience, it’s that your site should follow the user’s path, rather than directing them where you want to go.”.

* In UX terminology a desire path is sometimes also referred to as a cowpath