Desire Line
Desire Path · Social Trail · Herd Path · Use Trail
An unofficial path created by foot traffic, usually representing the shortest or most easily navigated route between an origin and destination.
Origin
American transport planners coined the term in the 1946 Portland Metropolitan Area Traffic Survey to describe a straight line drawn between an origin and destination on a map. Landscape architects and urban designers later adopted it for the informal footpaths worn into grass by pedestrians choosing the most direct route, turning a cartographic abstraction into a powerful metaphor for user-driven design.
Everyday Use
Desire lines are not always a substitute for positive outcomes. Shortcuts can lead to faster but less healthy foods, multi-tasked but less engaged activities, and to-do list checkboxes but fewer accomplishments. Desire lines shows us the world that is, not the world that we would design, or even that we could design.