Project Lifecycle

Overview

Every project on CHIPS follows a clear lifecycle. Here is the full journey from start to finish.

1. Post

A client creates a project with:

• A description of the work needed
• A budget in CHIPS
• A deadline for delivery
• A review window (48 or 72 hours)

The client's payment is held in Payment Escrow immediately. Depending on their Trust Score, clients may also need to put down a small Good Faith Deposit (3-7% of project value).

The client's identity is hidden from designers at this stage.

2. Claim

Qualified designers can see and claim the project based on their tier:

• Value gate: the project value must be within the designer's tier cap
• Time gate: higher-tier designers get early access (Legendary sees immediately, Common waits up to 1 hour)

Claiming is first-come. No bidding, no proposals. The first qualified designer to claim wins.

When a designer claims:

• Their Commitment Deposit is locked (a percentage of the project value based on their tier)
• Both the client and designer identities are revealed to each other
• The delivery countdown begins

3. Submit

The designer completes the work and submits their deliverables before the deadline. Submissions include the creative assets and any notes for the client.

4. Review

The client reviews the submitted work within their chosen review window (48 or 72 hours):

• Approve -- the client is satisfied with the work
• Request changes -- the client and designer communicate to refine the deliverables
• Auto-Approve Timer -- if the client does not respond within the review window, the work is automatically approved. A reminder is sent 24 hours before the timer expires.

5. Payment Release

When work is approved:

• The designer receives 79% of the project value
• The designer's Commitment Deposit is returned
• The client's Good Faith Deposit (if any) is returned
• A Verified Credit is issued to the designer
• The remaining 21% is distributed to marketplace operations, the Merit Pool, and the Review Panel reserve

When Things Go Wrong

Designer Misses the Deadline

If the designer does not submit by the deadline:

• 100% of their Commitment Deposit goes to the client
• The project is returned to the client with options to repost

Designer Abandons the Project

If the designer abandons a claimed project:

• 75% of their Commitment Deposit goes to the client
• 25% is permanently removed from circulation
• The project can be reclaimed by another designer

Review Panel Dispute

If the client and designer disagree on the work quality, either party can request a Review Panel -- a neutral dispute resolution process:

• The Review Panel consists of 2 Legendary-tier designers and 1 CHIPS staff member
• They evaluate the work against the original project brief
• If the designer loses: 50% of their Commitment Deposit goes to the client, 50% is returned
• If the client loses: the work is approved and payment is released normally

Client Cancels

If the client cancels a project:

• Before a designer claims: full refund to the client
• After a designer claims: the designer's Commitment Deposit is returned in full, and the project is closed

Stale Projects

If nobody claims a project:

• At 30% of the deadline elapsed: the project opens to one tier below the normal requirement
• At 50% of the deadline elapsed: the project is returned to the client via the stale recycler

Urgent projects (with very short deadlines) skip the time-gate delays so all qualified designers can see them immediately.