Verification & the crown
Trust is the product. Every account climbs a ladder of checks:
| Tier | How | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmation code at signup | Everyone | |
| Payments | Connect Stripe (Profile → Payment Methods) | Everyone — the only tier clients/agencies need |
| Identity (KYC) | Photo ID + selfie via Didit (Profile → Security) | Contractors |
| Lucy AI screening | A graded (1–5) AI interview | Contractors — required to be listed in search |
The crown
Verification depth is shown everywhere by a crown badge:
- Outline — one tier complete
- Soft fill — two tiers
- Solid — fully verified
Hover the crown to see exactly which checks passed. On project cards the same crown shows your engagement instead: outline = invited, soft = proposal submitted, solid = accepted.
The dashboard bubble
Until verification and profile completeness reach 100%, a dashboard bubble shows your progress, routes each missing step to the right screen, and surfaces your two most important messages (open disputes, timesheets awaiting action, deadline risk, new proposals). Dismissing it hides it until you next sign in.