Here’s a nice piece of design (from the University of Kent Canterbury campus):
There is clearly a plan here to stop people walking on that side of the road; the formal path stops, and there is a crossing point installed in the kerb. But, this hasn’t been very effective, as illustrated by the desire paths trailing off into the distance.
The new component here is the bin. This provides a nice terminator for the path without it coming across as an aggressive barrier. Bins are part of the regular street-furniture vocabulary, so it doesn’t jar (or look ludicrous) like a little fence would. Its secondary function of encouraging people to cross the road is effective without being obtrusive.