Steady is a platform that helps gig workers and non-standard earners in the US track their income and access financial benefits. The Income Passport is their core verification product — a way for 1099 and gig workers to prove their income and access public benefits that typically require documentation these workers can’t easily produce through traditional means.
We were brought in to audit the existing Income Passport application and redesign the core flows.
Gig workers are a specific user group with specific constraints that aren’t visible from a standard usability audit.
They’re often using the app on mobile during short windows between jobs — not at a desk, not with time to figure things out. The experience has to be clear enough to complete correctly while moving fast.
Income verification has real consequences when it fails. A failed verification means delayed benefit access — which for someone in financial precarity can mean missing a rent payment or going without food assistance. Errors or confusion in the flow aren’t just frustrating; they have direct downstream impact.
Many users have limited financial literacy or are not native English speakers. Jargon is a barrier. Vague instructions are a barrier. Copy that assumes familiarity with financial terminology leaves a significant portion of users behind.
These constraints shaped every specific design decision we made.
Before designing anything, we audited the existing application systematically:
We also worked with stakeholders to understand which failure types generated the most support volume and which were most likely to cause complete abandonment.
Restructured around a clearer step-by-step progression. Each step asks for one thing, explains why it’s needed, and gives users a clear sense of where they are in the overall process. Copy was rewritten throughout — removing jargon, making the purpose of each field explicit, ensuring instructions were actionable rather than descriptive.
Gig workers earn from multiple sources — different platforms, different income types, different pay schedules — and the way they mentally categorise their income doesn’t always match the way financial systems want to record it. The redesign mapped to how users actually thought about their earnings rather than to the database schema. Related income sources were grouped together, the distinction between income types was explained in plain language.
When funds are being loaded, users need to understand two things: that something is actually happening, and when to expect it to complete. The old experience was ambiguous on both. We redesigned the loading state communication — clear progress indication, realistic time expectations set upfront, and an unambiguous confirmation state when the process completed.
Every error message now tells the user what went wrong, why, and what to do about it. Errors surface close to the point of failure rather than at the bottom of a form after submission. Generic messages were replaced with specific ones users could act on without calling support.
A full copy audit across the product — identifying jargon, inconsistent terminology, complex sentence structures, and instructions that assumed financial knowledge. The rewrite prioritised plain language, consistency in how the same concepts are referred to, and a tone that is helpful rather than formal.
Reducing friction in the verification flow reduced abandonment at key drop-off points. Better error handling reduced confusion and support volume. Plain-language copy made the product accessible to a wider range of users including those with limited financial literacy or English proficiency.
For a product serving people in genuine financial precarity, reducing friction isn’t just a UX metric — it’s directly connected to whether people access the benefits they’re entitled to.
Projects
We designed the full system from scratch — a campaign dashboard, template library, and a linear builder with side panel editing.
Six months across the full product — admin dashboard, adaptive testing, a KTU research experiment, and a broader UX restructure.
We redesigned the platform twice across four user types and built the design system from scratch as their only embedded designers.
Reviews
★★★★★
I had the pleasure of working with Gytis for a long time, and he has consistently been one of the most thoughtful and dependable product designers I’ve worked with.
Gytis thinks deeply about the product, the user, and the business context behind every design decision. He is very strong at turning ambiguous ideas into clear, polished, usable experiences, and he brings a high level of taste and discipline to the work.
Gytis is someone I could trust with important product problems. He communicates clearly, takes feedback well, and has a calm, mature way of moving projects forward even when the direction is still evolving. That combination of creativity, judgment, and ownership made him a real partner to the product team!
★★★★★
"I came to Gytis looking for web designer. What I quickly realized is that Gytis's approach to design is to thoroughly immerse himself in the study of a client's company and then construct an information architecture which accurately and directly accomplishes the most important goals for the business. I have worked with all kinds of designers and creatives in the past, and Gytis stands head and shoulders above them all.”
★★★★★
"Gytis consistently demonstrated strong design skills, professionalism, and a great ability to collaborate smoothly with both the team and customer. His work left a very positive impression on our customers, and communication throughout the projects was always easy and constructive. I’d recommend him as a reliable and experienced designer."
★★★★★
"Gytis Mark has highly talented and motivated product designers. We worked together for a year with them collaborating on multiple projects during this time. Gytis Mark consistently built visually stunning designs while also paying attention to the user experience. Their attention to detail and intuitive designs resonated positively with our clients. They were open to feedback and incorporated them into his designs rapidly, which helped us to refine our product experience."
★★★★★
"It was an absolute pleasure working with the Gytis Mark on our web and mobile application analysis and design. The team displayed great talents in the user experience field while they worked with us. It's not just their technical skills that impress me, however. It is also their amazingly positive attitude that made it a joy to work together. I recommend working with the Gytis Mark without any doubt."
★★★★★
"The earliest stage of company building is absolutely foundational to ensure long-term success -- despite technically being an external contractors, Gytis's team was deep in the trenches with us, driving impact, understanding complex issues, and creating elegant UX solutions. We are extremely grateful for their thoughtfulness, positive attitude, and care. We know they can drive organizational impact."
★★★★★
"Gytis Mark joined the project at a very early stage with no previous knowledge of the industry. They were able to grasp complex ideas quickly and provide valuable product development ideas from the get go. They had a clear and transparent process and kept us well informed. He took full ownership of the project taking in from idea to product from 0 - 1.”
★★★★★
“Gytis Mark worked with my startup, Lifeplanner, for over a year focusing on product design, UX design and communication. Their team is extremely professional in what they do. They researched our industry, building a true understanding of the business, its customers, competitors and stakeholders. They are also open-minded and likable - a true team players who know when to lean back and listen and when to challenge. We are very satisfied with our collaboration and with Gytis Mark team's deliveries.”
★★★★★
"Working with Gytis on defense-sector projects at BPTI was a strong experience. He brought a level of design thinking and professionalism that isn't easy to find in a domain as specific and demanding as ours. He picked up the context quickly, asked the right questions, and delivered work that was both thoughtful and practical. I'd recommend him without hesitation."
★★★★★
"We've worked with Gytis Mark across a number of projects and what stands out every time is the genuine care they bring to the work. They put real time and research into each brief, considering every angle before settling on a direction, and he never approaches a project on autopilot. They listen properly, get under the skin of what the client actually needs, and delivers great design that does the strategic job it's meant to. I'd recommend Gytis Mark without hesitation to anyone looking for a designers who treat their work like it's their own."
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