Category map
Competitive 2x2
Calm, human
Watches the driverBacks the driver
Miles
Garmin Dash Cams
Rove
Viofo
Vantrue
BlackVue
Life360
Bouncie
Progressive Snapshot
Loud, spec-driven
Miles
Miles is a small device and app for families with a new driver. It plugs into almost any car's OBD-II port and turns every trip into something a parent can understand — and talk about.
When we started, parents of new drivers had two options: know nothing, or monitor everything. Dash cams were loud and spec-driven; trackers and insurance apps kept score. Both put parent and teen on opposite sides, and neither made anyone a better driver.
The foundation work settled who Miles is for — the parent who buys it, and the new driver who has to want it too — the one bet (the expert riding shotgun), and the promise everything else answers to: Miles coaches, it doesn't punish.
From there, the brand gave that promise a voice, a palette and an image style that reads calm rather than cautionary. The build carried it into a first-trip journey, prototype tests with real driving scenarios, the Trips screens and a design system.
Below is the real Hub from the engagement — every node and artifact, exactly as we worked from it.
The whole Hub as one prompt for an AI tool:
Direction
Opportunity
Observations & key tensions
What we heard and saw, before deciding anything
- Parents want to know a new driver is safe — and don't want to become the person who polices every trip.
- Teens are the highest-risk drivers, and they already expect to be blamed: "afraid we'll be blamed for accidents."
- The category splits in two. Dash cams (Rove, Vantrue, Viofo, BlackVue) are loud, spec-driven and surveillance-toned; trackers and insurance apps (Life360, Bouncie, Snapshot) keep score.
- New cars raise awareness through their OEM apps, but they're complicated and lock you in — older cars get nothing.
Read moreShow less
Tensions to hold rather than resolve
- Visibility vs. privacy — the parent's peace of mind can't cost the teen's dignity.
- Helpful vs. overkill — more data reads as more surveillance, not more care.
- Serious vs. approachable — it has to be trusted with safety without sounding like a warning label.
Problem statement & why now
Problem
Parents of new drivers have two options: know nothing, or monitor everything.
Both damage the relationship — one with worry, the other with suspicion — and neither makes the teen a better driver.
Why now
- OBD-II hardware makes rich trip data cheap to collect from almost any car on the road, not just new ones.
- Insurers have trained families to see driving data as a score to be judged by — which leaves the supportive version of it unclaimed.
- Short-form video has made new-driver anxiety visible; teens arrive at their license already nervous.
Opportunity framing
If driving data can be turned from a score into a conversation, Miles owns the space between "no idea" and "surveillance": the calm, human corner of the category that nobody currently occupies.
Success looks like families describing Miles as the thing that made the new-driver year less stressful — not as a tracker.
Kickoff category notes
Dash cams (Rove, Vantrue, Viofo) read loud and spec-driven; trackers and insurance apps keep score.
The calm, human corner is open.
Audience
Audience definition
Two people, one product — and it has to satisfy both without alienating either.
Buyer: the parent of a newly licensed teen. Account owner and admin. Usually arrives right after something happened — a close call, an insurance quote, the day the license comes through.
Participant: the new driver. Not a subject being watched; a consent-needed participant with their own reason to want this (proving they're careful, keeping costs down, not being blamed).
Not for (yet): fleet managers, insurers, or parents looking for covert tracking.
Personas
The Driving Parent
“I want to know they're okay — I don't want to be the one keeping score.”
Account owner and admin. Wants to know the new driver is safe without becoming the person who polices every trip.
Goals
- Peace of mind while the teen is on the road
- Something to talk about that isn't an accusation
- Keep insurance and car costs in check
Frustrations
- Trackers that feel like spying
- Apps that bury them in specs and alerts
- Being cast as the bad guy
The New Driver
“I'm already nervous. I don't need something watching my every move.”
A teen who just got their license. A consent-needed participant, not a subject — with their own reason to want this.
Goals
- Earn trust and more independence
- Not be blamed for things that weren't their fault
- Get better without being lectured
Frustrations
- Feeling surveilled
- Being judged by a score they can't see
- Another naggy app
Buyer moments
What just happened → what they feel → what they fear next (from the Brand Foundation workshop)
- A close call or fender bender → vulnerable, at risk → a worse accident; not knowing what to do or remember.
- The first insurance quote for a teen → shocked → the teen always assumed to blame, costs climbing further.
- The license comes through → "making a contract" with the new driver → getting the rules wrong from day one.
- Teaching them to drive → wishing the older car had the new car's features.
Key language & insights
Words they used for what they don't want
"watching their every move" · "keeping score without keeping score" · "looking for bad things you're doing" · "naggy" · "another always-listening device"
Words for what they do want
"riding shotgun" · "non-judgey" · "fair" · "private" · "I can be myself" · "looking out for your best interests"
Insight: the product's worth is measured in tone. The same data reads as care or as surveillance depending entirely on how it's said.
Positioning
Statement
Teen driving isn't about control — it's about confidence.
Point of view
Driving can be less stressful with thoughtful technology. The worst doesn't need to happen, and owning a car doesn't need to be in the dark, burdensome or scary.
Promise
Miles coaches, it doesn't punish.
Value proposition
Turns OBD-II trip data into something a parent can act on, without it feeling like surveillance — for both sides.
The one bet
We believe people will choose Miles when it's framed as the expert riding shotgun, because knowing what's going on can be calm and simple.
Personality
- FormalCasual
- ReservedExpressive
- AuthoritativeApproachable
- TechnicalPlainspoken
- ConventionalDisruptive
- CalmHigh-energy
Kill risks
What would make someone walk away — tested in the workshop so the positioning can steer around it
- Creepy or invasive — secretive, shady, collecting information for reasons nobody explained.
- Cheap or unreliable — bulk, excess, false positives.
- Overkill — information overload, "it can do this and this and this", too-cute features that add cognitive load.
- "This won't help me" — too playful about serious things, too many what-ifs, or "my smart car already does this."
Brand bet workshop
The Brand Bet Statement from the Brand Foundation Sprint board (December 22, 2025 – January 2, 2026): the template sentence, filled in live.
- Brand Bet Statement
The whole board in FigJam
Open in Figma
Job
Statement
Turn OBD-II trip data into something a parent can act on, without it feeling like surveillance.
Outcome
Monitoring becomes trust, for both sides — the parent knows, the new driver isn't policed.
Use cases
- A teen just got their license and the family is making a contract with the new driver
- Understanding what happened after a close call or a fender bender
- Keeping a new driver's insurance costs from climbing
- Giving an older car the awareness newer cars have
Won't do
- Keep score, or go looking for bad things the driver does
- Be another always-listening device
- Pile on specs, what-ifs and false alarms
- Nag
Brand
Voice
Voice guide
Calm, not alarmist
Say what happened and what to do; never raise the temperature.
Do · Hard stop on Elm St this afternoon. Worth a quick chat?
Don't · WARNING: Harsh braking event detected!
Plainspoken, not technical
No specs in the copy. The car's data is ours to translate.
Do · The battery's getting low — worth a check this week.
Don't · OBD-II PID 0x42 below threshold.
Riding shotgun, not watching
A fair, private helper in the passenger seat — never a scorekeeper.
Do · Here's how this week's drives went.
Don't · 3 violations logged this week.
Message hierarchy
- Teen driving isn't about control — it's about confidence.
- Miles coaches, it doesn't punish.
- Knowing what's going on can be calm and simple.
Taglines
- “Miles is riding shotgun.”
Key copy
Starter — a draft to fill in during the sprint, not a delivered decision.
Hero: Teen driving isn't about control — it's about confidence.
Subhead: Miles rides shotgun with your new driver, and tells you what matters — calmly.
Parent CTA: Set up Miles together
Teen-facing line: Proof you've got this.
Trip summary pattern: [What happened] · [Where] · [One thing worth talking about]
Empty state: No trips yet. Miles will be quiet until there's something worth saying.
Words we use / avoid
Use: trips, drives, heads-up, worth a chat, looking out, together, confidence.
Avoid: violations, events, alerts (as a noun for the teen's behavior), score, monitor, track, catch, warning.
From the workshop: the anti-associations were "companion" and "assistant" — Miles is an expert in the passenger seat, not a pet or a butler.
Identity
Color palette
Forest Green
Primary — buttons, links, the brand's voice in color
#32A871Sand
Secondary — warmth, highlights, illustration
#D69545Sky Blue
Tertiary — information, maps, calm accents
#4686C2Neutral
Paper (50) is the light surface; Ink (900) is text and the dark surface
#85827FTypography system
Typography
Four families, one job each: Acme Gothic Condensed for display, Inter Tight for subheads, Inter for body and UI, Overpass Mono for AI and data. Special Gothic Condensed One stands in for Acme in Google Slides.
Fonts
Acme Gothic Condensed
Font fileCONDENSED PUNCH FOR HERO HEADLINES
Aa600Tall, condensed display face with strong presence. Always use in ALL CAPS. Best for: Hero H1 headlines and bold marketing statements.
Special Gothic Condensed One
Font fileBOLD CONDENSED DISPLAY FOR SLIDES
Aa400Strong condensed display face for Google Slides. Great Acme Gothic alternative. Best for: Headlines in Google Slides presentations where Acme Gothic isn't available.
Inter
Google FontsThe quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Aa300Aa400Aa500Aa600Aa700Aa800Neutral, highly readable sans-serif with a modern UI feel. Best for: Body text, UI copy, buttons, labels, and general-purpose headings.
Inter Tight
Google FontsInter Tight — slightly more compact for headlines.
Aa300Aa400Aa500Aa600Aa700Aa800A tighter-width companion to Inter for punchier display copy. Best for: Hero headlines, section titles, and compact headings.
Overpass Mono
Google FontsMILES AI: JACK TOOK THE RAV4 OUT 12 MINS AGO...
Aa500Technical, legible mono face for AI summaries and utility labels. Best for: AI body copy, AI labels, and compact technical metadata.
Type scale
Headings
H1
Acme Gothic Condensed · 60px / 1 · 600
52px on mobile · No tracking · Uppercase
Page / document title
HEADING 1 — PAGE TITLE
H2
Acme Gothic Condensed · 48px / 1 · 600
40px on mobile · No tracking · Uppercase
Section heading
HEADING 2 — SECTION HEADING
H3
Inter Tight · 22px / 1.25 · 600
20px on mobile · No tracking
Subsection heading
Heading 3 — Subsection heading
Subheadings
H4
Inter · 18px / 1.33 · 500
16px on mobile · Tracking -0.2px
Prominent subheading
H4 — Prominent subheading
Subtitle
Inter · 20px / 1.33 · 400
16px on mobile · Tracking -0.1px
Standard subheading
Subtitle — Standard subheading
Overline
Inter · 14px / 1.5 · 500
13px on mobile · Tracking 0.3px · Uppercase
Optional; section labels / metadata
OVERLINE — SECTION LABEL
Body
Body / L
Inter · 20px / 1.3 · 400
16px on mobile · Tracking -0.2px
Intro / lead text
When your teen starts driving, everything changes. Miles helps families stay calm, informed, and prepared — without constant check-ins or invasive tracking.
Body / M
Inter · 16px / 1.5 · 400
14px on mobile · Tracking -0.015em
Default body text
Body Medium — Default body text
Body / M Bold
Inter · 16px / 1.4 · 600
14px on mobile · Tracking -0.015em
Emphasis within body copy
Body Medium Bold — Emphasis text
Body / S
Inter · 14px / 1.35 · 400
13px on mobile · Tracking -0.005em
Secondary or dense content
Body Small — Secondary or dense content
Body / S Bold
Inter · 14px / 1.35 · 600
13px on mobile · Tracking -0.005em
Emphasis in dense content
Body Small Bold — Compact emphasis
Caption
Inter · 12px / 1.5 · 500
Tracking 0.01em
Captions, helper text, footnotes
Caption — Helper text or footnotes
UI Text
Label
Inter · 13px / 1.33 · 400
11px on mobile · Tracking 0.01em
Form labels, table headers
Label — Form labels and table headers
Button
Inter · 16px / 1.5 · 400
15px on mobile · Tracking -0.015em
Primary button text
Button — Primary CTA
Technical
AI Body
Overpass Mono · 12px / 1.5 · 500
No tracking
AI-generated summaries and system-style assistant copy.
JACK TOOK THE RAV4 OUT 12 MINS AGO, AND THE CIVIC IS PARKED AT HOME.
Logo set
Imagery
Image style
OptimisticEverydayHand-paintedCalmMid-centuryWarm light
Process
- Sketch the scene by hand in pencil. Framing, who is in it and what they are doing are decided here — not by the model.
- Give the AI image model the sketch plus the prompt below. It keeps the drawing as its guide and paints over it in the hand-painted, mid-century style.
- Check each render against its sketch and the mood words, and re-run or adjust until the scene feels calm and optimistic.
Prompt
Draw this image in a 50s illustration style (although we're aesthetically making retro references make sure all character clothes and styles are 2025 period appropriate) using a tightly controlled, realism-based approach while allowing the painting process to remain visible. Start with the precise pencil drawing you can see in the uploaded image as reference, then build form with opaque paint—traditionally gouache or oil—laying in mid tones first and developing shadows and highlights in deliberate, confident brushstrokes rather than fully blending them away. Use a natural, realistic yet optimistic color palette, avoiding straight black for shadows. Edges can remain softly handled in skin and fabric, but let brush marks describe form and direction, giving surfaces a subtly textured, hand-painted finish, while reserving cleaner, sharper edges and tighter control for focal points so the illustration still reads clearly when reproduced.
Scenes
Approaching the high school — safety and normalcy quietly coexist
Teen driving with Miles present — there, not dominating the moment
Parent handing over the keys — an easy handoff of trust
The keys, up close — earned independence
Marketing Assets
Style tiles
Built live from this project's palette, type, logo and images.
Built for families with new drivers
Confidence for every drive
When your teen starts driving, everything changes. Miles helps families stay calm, informed, and prepared — without constant check-ins or invasive tracking.
Miles coaches. It doesn't punish.
Every trip becomes something a parent can understand — and talk about. Like having an expert riding shotgun.
Teen Safety
What parents actually worry about when teens start driving
Most parents don't want more data — they want reassurance.
Insurance
How safe driving data can lower your insurance bill
How driver scores work, and how Miles puts you back in control.
Trust & Independence
How to build trust with your teen — without hovering
Transparency, fairness and restraint create better outcomes for everyone.
Coming soon
Be the first to know when Miles is ready for your family.
Build
Flow
First Trip journey
User journey
The core product loop: setting up the dongle, driving hands-free, and seeing a trip summary that builds trust.
- 1
Setup
Get the dongle installed and connected once, confidently, with minimal effort
Feels · Cautious optimism → mild anxiety
Breaks when · "Am I doing this right?" — OBD port location, compatibility uncertainty
- 2
Trigger
Start driving normally without needing to remember to do anything
Feels · Relief (if truly hands-off)
Breaks when · Uncertainty that it actually started logging; the temptation to check the phone
- 3
Interpretation
Understand how Miles works, and trust it's accurate and working quietly in the background
Feels · Invisible trust-building (or skepticism if flaky)
Breaks when · Missed trips, split trips, or weird trip boundaries
- 4
Action
Turn the drive into a usable artifact (not raw data)
Feels · Curious and interested — surprised by the simplicity
- 5
Resolution
See proof it worked, and a helpful summary that feels encouraging
Feels · Satisfaction and confidence
Breaks when · The first result is empty, overly technical, or judgmental — and they churn
- 6
Follow Up
Build the habit and deepen setup without regret or overwhelm
Prototype
Kid Starts Driving / Trip in Progress
Mobile appProve that both parents receive, view, and trust a live trip as it happens and after it ends.
Scenario 1 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Kid Speeding
Mobile appShow the agent interrupting an active trip thread with a driving behavior alert and parent response options.
Scenario 2 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Hard Braking (Real-Time Alert)
Mobile appSame as speeding but for a deceleration event, proving the mid-trip alert pattern repeats cleanly.
Scenario 3 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Fuel Low After a Trip
Mobile appEstablish the baseline reminder pattern: agent surfaces a low-stakes issue, user picks how to handle it, done.
Scenario 4 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Low Tire Pressure
Mobile appProve the full card anatomy works end-to-end: data visualization, coaching layer, action set, and resolution.
Scenario 5 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Oil Change Due
Mobile appShow the reminder pattern with more action variety (time-based, mileage-based, already done) and the "don't badger" behavior.
Scenario 6 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Check Engine Light
Mobile appTest the alert → chat flow with a higher-anxiety vehicle issue that needs calm explanation. Surface context on the issue, severity, and cost range. CTAs: get reminder in 2–3 days; send email/documentation to mechanic.
Scenario 10 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Trip Summary — Contextual Q&A
Mobile appProve the agent can be user-initiated from a screen, not just alert-driven, with suggested prompts scoped to a completed trip.
Scenario 11 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from the Ask Miles screen.
Hard Braking (Post-Trip Review)
Mobile appShow braking events as markers on a completed trip route inside the trip summary view.
Scenario 12 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from the Ask Miles screen.
Registration Expiring
Mobile appShow the passive badge entry point for a time-based reminder that's handled in seconds and backgrounded.
Scenario 14 of Miles Proto 4.
Opens from a push notification.
Prototype planning board
Where the prototype scenarios were planned: reference apps, a row of steps and open questions per scenario, and the flows sketched out.
- Prototype planning board
The whole board in FigJam
Open in Figma
Interface
Trips screens
Screens
Trips List
The list of trips, and the entry to filtering. Already effective.
Open in FigmaTrips Filter
Filter by driver, vehicle and date range. The open question this cycle: the controls may be too crude.
Open in FigmaTrip Detail
The map and the way the route is shown and navigated are the favourite part; the content is good to go.
Open in Figma
Agent screens
Screens
Dashboard
The map, a coaching card from Miles, and each vehicle at a glance.
Open in FigmaAsk Miles
Opened from the Ask Miles badge: a greeting and suggested prompts.
Open in FigmaAction card
Miles answers with an action card the parent can act on in place.
Open in Figma
System
Design tokens
Color primitives from the MILES-UI Figma file (Primitives frame, 232:932), named after its variables: https://www.figma.com/design/gmbbHEuKytveyy1lENPfK2/MILES-UI-260506?node-id=232-932
Color — Gray
gray-0#FFFFFFgray-50#F7F6F2gray-100#EBE9E6gray-200#DBDAD7gray-300#C7C5C3gray-400#A3A19Egray-500#85827Fgray-600#696764gray-700#4D4B49gray-800#363432gray-900#242322gray-950#030712gray-1000#000000
Color — Green
green-50#F2F9F5green-100#E5F4EBgreen-200#BCE8D3green-300#8DD5B3green-400#5EBE91green-500#32A871green-600#309061green-700#2F7852green-800#2D6041green-900#1F2420green-950#181A17
Color — Blue
blue-50#EBF1F5blue-100#DEF2FEblue-200#B8E4FFblue-300#73CCFFblue-400#42BAFFblue-500#00A2FFblue-600#008CE5blue-700#1571ADblue-800#285C7Fblue-900#16364Cblue-950#122026
Color — Red
red-50#FFECE4red-100#FFDCCBred-200#FFB899red-300#FF9466red-400#FE7133red-500#FE4D00red-600#CD3D00red-700#982E01red-800#661F00red-900#330F00red-950#240B00
Color — Yellow
yellow-50#F5F2EDyellow-100#FAE9CDyellow-200#FFDB99yellow-300#FCC76Ayellow-400#FFB83Dyellow-500#FFA710yellow-600#E5900Cyellow-700#C47509yellow-800#854F05yellow-900#5C390Fyellow-950#1F180B
Type
font-family-display'Acme Gothic Condensed', sans-seriffont-family-tight'Inter Tight', 'Inter', ui-sans-serif, system-uifont-family-sans'Inter', ui-sans-serif, system-uifont-family-mono'Overpass Mono', ui-monospace
Miles design system
Figma
The tokens the app is built from, published in the MILES-UI Figma so engineering can pull styles and components straight in.
Miles design tokens: colors in light and dark, primitives, spacing, border radius and the type scale.
Open in FigmaYour project
Every project gets a Hub like this one — it fills in sprint by sprint.
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