Toes to Nose
Walking the Cobblestone Streets of European Cities
Florence, Italy
Don’t Fall
As we age, we sometimes get a little lazy about picking up our feet. That slow shuffle can lead to a stubbed toe, a stumble, or even a fall. Before my recent trip to Europe, my husband, a talented physical therapist, offered his older sister a bit of simple but wise advice:
Toes to Nose
It was his visual reminder to lift her feet as she walked on the uneven cobblestone streets on our trip. It was just that extra mindfulness she needed.
As we made our way through the city, dodging scooters, peeking into boulangerie-pâtisseries, passing tourists, locals, artists and street performers, that phrase started to mean something more.
Because walking in a foreign city takes presence, you can’t rush through it. This slowing down to watch our toes also was a moment to take in the culture unfolding in every direction before us.
Now we could have taken the metro, it would have been possibly faster and easier, But we chose to walk (many, many km), to see, and to feel the city with our own two feet.
And that, I realized, is exactly what good User Experience (UX) demands of us too.
Walk the Streets Before You Design the Map
When we rush into designing before observing, we risk tripping over uneven stones: missed needs, clumsy flows, and dead-end paths. But when we walk the streets of our user’s world, we begin to see how everything connects, the rhythms, the pauses, the small details that make an experience feel alive.
One morning in Florence, I wandered into a tiny neighborhood café called Coffee Mantra. The barista greeted each new customer with a melodic “Ciao!”—taking orders, steaming milk, and chatting with regulars who lingered at the bar to sip their espresso and chat. There was no rush, no chaos. Just a beautiful rhythm to it all.
The space itself felt designed for flow. One door for entering, one for exiting. No backflow, no confusion. Every movement seemed choreographed, like a quiet dance between people who understood their roles.
Outside, mothers balanced children on bikes with effortless grace. They stopped to greet one another, grab their morning coffee, while their children giggled.
It was by walking the streets and observing, that I stumbled upon this little gem.
You can’t design for people you don’t walk with.
From the layout of a page
to the navigation of a city.
From the clutter of a homepage
to the chaos of a busy street corner.
Everything starts to make sense, if you’re paying attention.
Design Is Not Just Seeing, It’s Observing
There’s a classic UX process created by Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt called contextual inquiry. Contextual Inquiry observes users in their real environments, not a controlled lab, through surveys, or interviews. It’s slow. It’s tedious. But it’s powerful.
In “Contextual Inquiry: Inspire Design by Observing and Interviewing Users in Their Context” by Kim Flaherty writes, “One of the greatest strengths of this methodology is that you get to see things you wouldn’t anticipate and uncover low-level details that have become habitual and invisible. You get to see the interruptions, superstitious behaviors, and illogical processes that directly influence UX work.”
It’s like meandering through the streets of a city, you notice things.
When we commit to walking, observing, and listening, we stop designing for ourselves, and start designing with our users.
Be Where Your Feet Are
The balance is delicate. Keep your eyes on the ground so you don’t fall, but don’t forget to look up, or you’ll miss the beauty all around you.
Don’t rush to the destination.
Walk the path.
Observe instead of assume.
Design with empathy, not ego.
So the next time you’re tempted to take the quickest route, whether it’s a travel shortcut or a product sprint, remember:
Take the street, not the shortcut.
Keep lifting your toes to your nose so you don’t fall, and see what others miss.
The steps you take might just lead to your best design yet.
Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy.
Let’s Build What Matters
At Swayze Design Studio, this is how we approach every project: with empathy, observation, and the belief that design overflows from humanity.
We walk the path with our clients and their users, one mindful step at a time.
Let’s create something that matters.