cowpaths
Livestock-worn tracks
Cowpaths are trails worn into the ground by cattle walking the same route repeatedly.
The term appears frequently in urban planning and software design to describe paths created by actual use rather than deliberate planning—the idea being that you should pave the cowpaths rather than impose routes nobody wants to follow.
Boston's winding streets supposedly started as colonial cowpaths.
Quicker alternative path
- footpathRoute for pedestrians
- trailPath through wilderness
- wornDamaged by use
- troddenWalked upon repeatedly
wayfinding · route · track · meander · wander · ramble · bypass · detour
From living matter
- emergentNewly come into existence
- bottom-upStarting from fundamentals
- informalRelaxed, not official
- unplannedNot arranged beforehand
intuitive · natural · worn · pattern · optimization · UX · workflow · iteration
Feeding on pasture
- meadowGrassy field for grazing
- pastureGrazing ground for livestock
- herdGrazing animals together
- cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially
bovine · livestock · dairy · barnyard · countryside · bucolic · idyllic · rustic
Habitual group practice
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- legacyWhat's passed down
- continuityUninterrupted progression or coherence
established · habitual · time-honored · precedent · routine · ingrained · entrenched · institutional
shortcut
Quicker alternative path
trodden · wayfinding · route · track · meander · wander · ramble · bypass · detour · crosscut
organic
From living matter
unplanned · intuitive · natural · worn · pattern · optimization · UX · workflow · iteration · adaptation
grazing
Feeding on pasture
cattle · bovine · livestock · dairy · barnyard · countryside · bucolic · idyllic · rustic · shepherd
custom
Habitual group practice
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- legacyWhat's passed down
continuity · established · habitual · time-honored · precedent · routine · ingrained · entrenched · institutional · persistence
cowpathspaved roads
Hard-surfaced thoroughfares
highways · freeways · boulevards · superhighways · interstates
cowpathspaved roads
Hard-surfaced thoroughfares
tarmac · superhighways · interstate highways · autobahn · expressways