Post by Smita Gupta

Learning from the crooked path :) Walking the famous crooked street on Lombard Street in San Francisco, I wasn’t just a tourist, I was a learner noticing design thinking in action. What looks like a playful, winding road is actually a powerful lesson in problem-solving and human-centred design. The history says, in the 1920s, the steep hill slope had a 27% grade, too dangerous for early cars and difficult for pedestrians. Instead of forcing movement through an unsafe constraint, urban planners reimagined the system itself. They introduced switchback engineering, eight sharp hairpin turns across just 600 feet, reducing the effective gradient to a manageable 16%. Safety, accessibility, and usability were redesigned into the structure itself. What stayed with me most was not just the engineering, but the transformation of necessity into identity. What began as a functional fix is now one of San Francisco’s most iconic landmarks, beautified with brick pathways and vibrant hydrangeas. It made me reflect on learning science in everyday spaces When learners encounter complexity, do they prefer straight paths, or look for designing curves? Sometimes, the most powerful learning happens when we observe design in the world around us, and let curiosity lead. #LearningScience #CuriosityInAction #DesignThinking #SanFrancisco #ExperientialLearning #TeachersOnSummerBreak