Shortcuts to better and faster product design

TED Talks: What can we learn from shortcuts? Tom Hulme (Published on February 2016)

Top Ten Takeaways:

When we're designing new products, services or businesses, the only time you'll know if they're any good, if the designs are good, is to see how they're used in the real world, in context.
People are resourceful! They will always find the low friction route to save money and time.
People take the shortcut (aka desire path), because it's often the path of least resistance. Also, shortcut is self-reinforcing.
Sometimes the best way to come up with a great design is just to launch it. In fact, even launching the straw man of a service can teach you what people really want.
The answer is rarely inside the building. Get out there and see what people really want.
Empathy for what your customers want is probably the biggest leading indicator of business success.
The job of a designer is to watch for these desire paths emerging, and, where appropriate, pave them.
We (product designers) need to design for real human needs at low friction, because if you don't offer them in low friction, someone else will, often the customer.
Stay Responsive - The world's in flux, and we have to respond to those changes to provide the desire paths for your customers.
The world is incredibly flux at the moment (because of technology). It's changing constantly. These desire paths are going to spring up faster than ever. Our job is to pick the appropriate ones and pave over them.