Whether or not Design at Google is a move of some import is yet to be tested. Google is a heterogenous company with many different assets. It will take time for

Whether or not Design at Google is a move of some import is yet to be tested. Google is a heterogenous company with many different assets. It will take time for assets to upgrade, quirks ironed, old UX habits forgotten. Certainly "feels" that unifying/upgrading design is a good move. Also, while I absolutely hate even firing up Maps (but I need to), I find that people, whose first experience with them is the new interface, like it very much.