The architect Christopher Alexander documented this in "Alexander, C. (1975). The Oregon Experiment. New York: Oxford University Press" - one of the foundations for the whole Pattern Language movement which strongly influenced software design.
replyActively painting the desire path is next level though ':)
replyThere's a cool project where desire paths were intentionally planned and paved later: https://popupcity.net/radar/elephant-paths-paving-the-way-fo...
replyIt's not the first time I run into this idea, it's indeed probably a great way to design paths!
replyPretty good way to design software, too. See what users do, then make that thing or make it better.
replyOf course, this is isn't perfect -- the user doesn't always know what they want.