Google Maps Crossing State Lines

✋ What is it?

This is a solution found in the Google Maps mobile apps. When users are in navigation mode driving on an interstate highway, the get a friendly welcome message that informs when they have crossed a state line.

🤲 How does this interaction or solution work?

Google Maps is the most popular navigation app in the world. As of 2015, Google Maps had more than 70 million unique users in the US who actively use the app to navigate and locate addresses and venues.

When Google Maps users drive in the US with the app in navigation mode and are moving from a location in one state to a location in a different state, the app will show a personalized welcome message when they cross the state line.

The personalized message appears inside a flash banner shows up at the bottom of the app.

The banner has a message that reads "Welcome to {State}" and a custom avatar that features some stereotypical or cultural symbol of that state.

For instance, in the example provided for this Wave, the app welcomes the user to Oregon and shows the avatar of a lumberjack. The pacific northwest is one of the top producers of lumber in the US, and the state of Oregon is often associated with logging, and the hipster culture

(which happens to be influenced by the lumberjack fashion.)

🙌 How does this interaction or solution work?

Delight and Feedback Loop.

Besides being a delightful interaction that helps users to appreciate the app and its details, this solution also provides a helpful feedback loop that informs the user of a significant event in their trip. Crossing state lines usually mean that the user is now under a different jurisdiction and specific traffic rules may be different.

It also gives the user a clear milestone related to the progress of their trip, and it might influence other decisions like stopping for a rest, gas or food.