What can we learn from shortcuts? | Tom Hulme

翻译人员: Wei Wu 校对人员: Chen Wang

When we're designing new products,

当我们设计新的产品

services or businesses,

推出新的服务或业务的时候

the only time you'll know if they're any good,

只有当用户真正开始使用它们

if the designs are good,

我们才能判定

is to see how they're used in the real world, in context.

这个产品或是服务设计得究竟如何

I'm reminded of that every time I walk past Highbury Fields

我每次路过伦敦北部的 海布里公园（Highbury Fields）

in north London.

都会想起这个道理

It's absolutely beautiful.

那个公园非常美

There's a big open green space.

公园内有一大块草坪

There's Georgian buildings around the side.

格鲁吉亚风格的建筑环绕四周

But then there's this mud trap that cuts across the middle.

但是草坪中间有一段泥泞小路

People clearly don't want to walk all the way around the edge.

显然，人们不愿意绕一大圈， 更喜欢抄近路，

Instead, they want to take the shortcut,

而小路有自我强化机制：

and that shortcut is self-reinforcing.

一旦形成，就会有越来越多的人走

Now, this shortcut is called a desire path,

我们把这类“近路”叫做 心仪小路 (desire path)

and it's often the path of least resistance.

这类小路对于行人来说是最有吸引力的

I find them fascinating,

这些小路让我着迷

because they're often the point where design and user experience diverge.

因为它体现出 设计与用户体验往往是有偏差的

Now at this point, I should apologize,

在此，我应该道歉

因为此后你们会开始注意到 这样的偏差无处不在

because you guys are going to start seeing these everywhere.

But today, I'm going to pick three I find interesting

但今天我只挑三个例子与你们分享

and share what actually it reminds me

它们不仅有趣，还会提醒我们

about launching new products and services.

研发新产品、推广新服务时应该注意什么

第一个例子来自巴西首都——巴西利亚

The first is in the capital city of Brazil -- Brasilia.

And it reminds me that sometimes,

这个例子提醒我

you have to just focus on designing for a real need

设计产品时往往需要关注实际需求

at low friction.

以避免不必要的麻烦

Now, Brasilia is fascinating.

当下，巴西利亚非常迷人

It was designed by Niemeyer in the '50s.

20世纪50年代尼迈耶对整座城市做了规划

It was the golden age of flying,

那个时候是航空业的黄金时期

so he laid it out like a plane, as you can see there.

你可以看出来，他规划出了一个飞机的形状

Slightly worryingly,

不过有些令人担心的是

he put most of the important government buildings in the cockpit.

他将大多数重要政府机构 都放在了机头的位置

But if you zoom in, in the very center of Brasilia,

但是如果你将巴西利亚市中心航拍图放大

just where the point is there,

就是图中标注的这个位置

you see it's littered with desire paths.

你将看到这里遍布着心仪小路

They're absolutely everywhere.

真的无处不在

Now, they thought that they had future-proofed this design.

他们曾觉得这个设计能经受住时间的考验

They thought in the future we wouldn't need to walk anywhere --

因为他们认为未来我们不再需要步行了

我们可以开车

we'd be able to drive --

so there was little need for walkways or pavements.

所以也就不再需要人行道了

But as you can see, there's a real need.

但是你可以看到，人行道还是必要的

These are very dangerous desire paths.

这些心仪小路非常危险

If we just pick one, in the middle,

比如我们看一下中间这条小路

you can see it crosses 15 lanes of traffic.

如果走这条路，行人需要横穿15个机动车道

It won't surprise you guys

在座各位可能知道

that Brasilia has five times the pedestrian accident rate

在巴西利亚，行人出车祸的概率

of your average US city.

是在美国的五倍

People are resourceful.

人们都很聪明

They'll always find the low-friction route

他们总是寻找最便捷的路线

to save money, save time.

既省钱又省时间

Not all these desire paths are dangerous,

但也并不是所有的心仪小路都很危险

I was reminded flying here when I was in Heathrow.

当我抵达希思罗机场的时候曾注意到

Many of us get frustrated when we're confronted

很多乘客对这里的道路设计都很不满

with the obligatory walk through duty-free.

因为他们必须从免税店穿过

It was amazing to me

这让我很好奇

how many people refused to take the long, meandering path to the left,

会有多少乘客不走左边这条 又长又蜿蜒的路线

and just cut through to the right,

而选择走右边

cut through the desire path.

走这条心仪小路

The question that's interesting is:

这个问题有趣的地方在于

What do designers think when they see our behavior here?

设计师是如何看待我们的行为的呢

Do they think we're stupid?

他们会觉得我们傻吗

会觉得我们懒吗

Do they think we're lazy?

Or do they accept that this is the only truth?

还是他们会承认他们设计失误

This is their product.

毕竟，这是他们的设计作品

We're effectively co-designing their product.

我们这些使用者实际上也参与了产品设计

So our job is to design for real needs at low friction,

所以我们设计师的工作就是 尽可能满足用户的实际需求

because if you don't, the customer will, anyway.

因为如果设计师做不到， 使用者自己也会想办法的

The second desire path I wanted to share

我想跟大家分享的第二条心仪小路

is at the University of California.

位于加州大学

And it reminds me

这个例子让我明白

that sometimes the best way to come up with a great design

有时候最好的设计方式

is just to launch it.

就是顺应用户

Now, university campuses are fantastic for spotting desire paths.

大学校园是寻找心仪小路的理想场合

I think it's because students are always late and they're pretty smart.

我觉得这是因为学生总是赶时间 而且他们还很聪明

So they're dashing to lectures.

当他们冲向讲座教室时候

They'll always find the shortcut.

他们总能找到近道

And the designers here knew that.

而那里的设计者了解这一点

So they built the buildings

所以他们先建好大楼

and then they waited a few months for the paths to form.

然后等上几个月，直到人们踩出了小路

They then paved them.

然后在此基础上铺路

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Incredibly smart approach.

非常聪明的点子

In fact, often, just launching the straw man of a service

事实上，多数情况，通过类似的前期试验

can teach you what people really want.

设计师即可捕获用户的真正需求

For example, Ayr Muir in Boston knew he wanted to open a restaurant.

例如波士顿的 Ayr Muir 想要开一个餐馆

But where should it be?

但是如何选址

What should the menu be?

菜单又应包含哪些菜品呢

He launched a service,

在开餐厅之前

in this case a food truck,

他开了一个快餐车

and he changed the location each day.

然后每天换个地方售卖快餐

He'd write a different menu on the side in a whiteboard marker

他每天也会在餐车的旁边立一块白板 上面写有当天的菜单

to figure out what people wanted.

以此找出人们喜欢的菜式

He now has a chain of restaurants.

如今他已经拥有多家连锁餐厅了

So it can be incredibly efficient

显然，先做一些实验来找出“心仪小路”的

to launch something to spot the desire paths.

办法极为有效

The third and final desire path I wanted to share with you

第三个，也是最后一个 我想要分享的心仪小路

is the UNIH.

位于UNIH （美国国立卫生研究院）

It reminds me that the world's in flux,

这个例子提醒我世界不是一成不变的

and we have to respond to those changes.

我们要随时准备应对这些变化

So as you'll guess, this is a hospital.

正如你们所料，这是个医院

I've marked for you on the left the Oncology Department.

我把左边的肿瘤科标记了出来

The patients would usually stay in the hotels down on the bottom right.

病人通常都呆在图中右下角的宾馆里

This was a patient-centered organization,

这是个以病人为中心的组织

so they laid on cars for their patients.

所以他们为病人提供免费摆渡车

But what they realized when they started offering chemotherapy

但是当医院开始提供化疗之后

is the patients rarely wanted to get in cars.

他们发现病人通常都不想坐摆渡车

They were too nauseous, so they'd walk back to their hotels.

化疗后的病人通常感觉非常恶心 所以他们更想走回宾馆

这就形成了这么一条对角线的心仪小路

This desire path that you see diagonally, formed.

The patients even called it "The Chemo Trail."

病人们甚至给它起了名字——化疗之路

Now, when the hospital saw this originally,

当医院最开始注意到这条小路的时候

他们给这条路重新铺上草皮，并没有重视

they tried to lay turf back over it, ignore it.

But after a while, they realized it was an important need

但是很快地，他们意识到这条小路的重要性

they were meeting for their patients,

病人真的需要走这条路

so they paved it.

于是他们把这条路铺了出来

我认为我们设计师的工作 就是铺出这些逐渐出现的心仪小路

And I think our job is often to pave these emerging desire paths.

If we look back at the one in North London again,

如果我们回头再看看伦敦北部那条小路

that desire path hasn't always been there.

会发现那条心仪小路并不是最开始就存在的

The reason it sprung up

它之所以会出现

is people were traveling to the mighty Arsenal Football Club stadium

是因为每到足球赛季的比赛日， 球迷们都会涌到

on game days,

阿森纳俱乐部看球

from the Underground station you see on the bottom right.

他们从地图右下角的地铁站出来

So you see the desire path.

这条心仪小路就这样形成了

If we just wind the clock back a few years,

如果时光倒流几年

when the stadium was being constructed,

当体育馆还没建好的时候

there is no desire path.

这条路还不存在

So our job is to watch for these desire paths emerging,

所以我们的工作就是观察等待这些路形成

and, where appropriate, pave them,

再伺机把它们铺设成真正的道路

as someone did here.

就像下面这个例子一样

Someone installed a barrier,

有人（在小路上）安装了一个路障

people started walking across and round the bottom as you see,

然后发现人们要么跨过去， 要么从底下钻过去

and they paved it.

后来他们就干脆把这条路铺上了

(Laughter)

(笑声)

But I think this is a wonderful reminder as well,

我觉得这是个很好的例子

that, actually, the world is in flux.

它提示我们世界不是一成不变的

It's constantly changing,

它始终都在不停变化

because if you look at the top of this image,

比如你看这张图片的上面部分

there's another desire path forming.

另一条心仪小路正在形成

So these three desire paths remind me

这三条心仪小路提醒着我

we need to design for real human needs.

我们在设计时要考虑人们的真正需求

I think empathy for what your customers want

我觉得对客户需求的同理心

is probably the biggest leading indicator of business success.

可能是事业成功的最好先行指标

Design for real needs

设计要满足客户真正的需求

并减少使用的难度

and design them in low friction,

because if you don't offer them in low friction,

因为一旦他们觉得这个设计难用

someone else will, often the customer.

他们可能会自己做出反馈及调整

Secondly, often the best way to learn what people really want

第二，挖掘用户真正需求的最好方式

往往是进行前期实验

is to launch your service.

The answer is rarely inside the building.

闭门造车很难得出答案

Get out there and see what people really want.

走出去，看看人们到底想要什么

And finally, in part because of technology,

最后，由于科技的不断发展

the world is incredibly flux at the moment.

世界目前处在剧变中

并且这种变化的脚步从未停歇

It's changing constantly.

These desire paths are going to spring up faster than ever.

这些心仪小路出现的速度之快前所未有

Our job is to pick the appropriate ones

我们的工作就是挑选合适的小路

and pave over them.

并铺设好路石

Thank you very much.

非常感谢

(Applause)

(掌声)