Meet People Where They're At
There's a shopping center I sometimes walk to for lunch. It's been there long enough that it doesn't have a sidewalk (before city ordinances required sidewalks I imagine). A few years ago, a mixed-use complex was built next to it, complete with a sidewalk that ended right at the boundary of the old plaza. This new sidewalk has resulted in a path of trampled grass as people (like myself) walk to the restaurants in the old plaza.
Today on my way to get some "Italian food" (it's America, nothing is authentic here), I was greeted with a new gravel path at the end of the sidewalk. The path had been placed to line up with the curve of dead grass and perfectly connected both plazas.
↑ I didn't have a camera on me, so enjoy this detailed sketch done on my Palm Pilot
It seems like a small thing, but it surprised me. Just a week ago I remember wondering to myself how long it would be until a "stay off of grass" sign appeared. Instead, I was treated to a rare instance of people's needs being directly addressed.
It reminded me of a similar story around Ohio State University (the university in my city). The sidewalks built across the campus green were made to follow the paths students trekked in the early days of the campus. A similar method, named Sneckdown, is used to determine where traffic calming measures are needed based on snow that has not been touched by traffic.
I wish this was more common, identifying pain points and improving the situation. Instead, we spend hours in meetings figuring out how to fight people's goals because what they want isn't "sticky enough" or "doesn't meet business goals".