Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

048 Desire Line

Traces of use or wear that indicate preferred methods of interaction.

Desire lines generally refer to paths where people naturally walk — the beaten path that trails off the sidewalk, usually as a shortcut to a destination — but can be applied more broadly to any signs or traces of user activity in an object or environment. The wear on certain keys on a keyboard, the bite and chew marks on a pen, or the damage and residual car paint left on road guardrails are all examples of desire lines.1

Desire lines represent an unbiased indication of how things are actually used. In contexts of repeated use, as with students crossing a campus quad, desire lines will generally correspond to the paths of least resistance. In contexts of first-time ...