Re: "Pave The Cowpaths" Design Principle

It used to be accepted wisdom that 'old roads were laid out by 
drunken cows'.  But sometimes there's more sense than appears.

There is a university campus that has lawns between the buildings. 
At the end of the academic year they lift the stones that are the 
paths across those lawns, and let the grass re-grow, over the summer. 
A few weeks into the new academic year, they observe where the 
pattern of class transitions etc. is causing the grass to get worn, 
and they lay paths, using the stones, where people are walking.  That 
way they neither frustrate the groundsmen who try to keep grass 
growing where people walk, nor the users of the grounds, who are not 
troubled by "keep to the paths" or "keep off the grass" signs.
-- 
David Singer
Apple Computer/QuickTime

Received on Monday, 14 May 2007 01:42:27 UTC