Waze Is Working on My Confidence
“You are awesome!”
That’s the message that pops onto my phone everyday. It’s not some self-help app or even a message from family, it’s Waze.
Waze is telling me that I helped other drivers by reporting traffic issues. I’m a total sucker for this. It’s making it person, that I, the reporter of problems on the road, has made a positive impact in this world.
Someone else driving a few minutes behind me saw my report that a car was stopped on the side of the road and they were so grateful that a tear rolled down their cheek. They realized my selflessness in taking attention away from the podcast I was listening to, pressing an orange button on the app, and pressing another three buttons to report the stopped vehicle. They’re considering a statue in their hometown but are concerned that they won’t find a talented-enough sculptor to capture the grandness of my deed.
Back in reality, Waze, which started this notification a few weeks back (or at least when I started noticing it) is being generous in not hoarding all of the data and giving a report back to me in a way that creates a positive feeling towards them. It’s like a master class in Nir Eyal’s Hooked.
We can learn from this when designing experiences.
