My favorite Wikipedia Article – Skeuomorph

This has come up a lot in conversation. By the way, thank goodness for Wikiwand. — A skeuomorph (/ˈskjuːəˌmɔːrf, ˈskjuːoʊ-/[1][2]) is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues from structures that were necessary in the original. Examples include...
Desire lines, the ultimate user test

Desire lines, the ultimate user test

…and they are fascinating. I learned about these while listening to William Lidwell, author of Universal Principles of Design, talk about them on Lynda.com. It turns out, architects use these to learn where people like to walk before adding sidewalks.