🧪 Beta Testing Program

You're helping build this.

Three days. Thirty minutes each. Your honest reactions are more valuable than any feature spec. Dig in, break things, and tell us everything you think.

Overall Progress 0 / 17

🗺️ Day 1: Cold Start

⏱ ~30 minutes

No onboarding. No tutorial. Open the Dashboard and start using the system as if you were a student-associate showing up on the first day of the semester. We want to see what feels natural and what creates friction — so don't ask for help, just navigate.

0 of 5 tasks complete
🎉 Day 1 complete. Come back tomorrow for Day 2: Find the Gaps.
Task 1 of 5
Claim your profile on the Dashboard
Open the Dashboard and fill in your name and APEX strand. Use your actual pathway. This is your home base.
What we're learning: Does the profile setup feel personal, or does it feel like filling out a form?
Open Dashboard →
Task 2 of 5
Log your first standup in the Check-In Log
Open the Check-In Log and fill in all three fields using today's class as context — what you worked on, what's next, any blockers. When you're done, try tagging it to a portfolio artifact (there may not be any yet — that's fine, just try).
What we're learning: Is the standup format the right shape for how your team actually runs check-ins? Is anything missing?
Open Check-In Log →
Task 3 of 5
Read through a Standard — don't add anything yet
Open the Portfolio, then click into Standard 1 (Servant Leadership) or Standard 5 (Professional Skills). Read the artifact card titles and briefs. Don't fill anything in yet — just read what's there.
What we're learning: Which artifact cards feel relevant to your team's work? Which ones feel off or out of place?
Standard 1 → Standard 5 →
Task 4 of 5
Add your first real artifact
Go back into Standard 1 or 5 and pick one artifact card that matches something your team has actually done this semester. Add a link (Google Drive doc, Canva, anything works) and write a brief reflection. Then click Done.
What we're learning: Does the reflection prompt push you to think, or does it feel like a box to check?
Standard 1 → Standard 5 →
Task 5 of 5
Preview the Review Prep tool
Open the Review Prep. Don't try to complete it — just read through the self-assessment structure. Rate yourself on one standard and write one goal. Then think about whether this would actually help a student-associate prepare for a performance review conversation.
What we're learning: Would student-associates use this before a review, or would it feel like homework on top of homework?
Open Review Prep →

🔬 Day 2: Find the Gaps

⏱ ~30 minutes

Today we go deeper into the playbook system and see how the pieces connect. Pick a playbook that your team could realistically use this semester — Video Production, Photography, Social Media, and Marketing Analytics are all good options. Then watch how the check-in log and portfolio talk to each other.

0 of 6 tasks complete
🔧 Day 2 done. Come back tomorrow for Day 3: Break Things.
Task 1 of 6
Open a playbook and read "Before You Start"
Pick one playbook your team could realistically use this semester and open Phase 0: "Before You Start." Read it all the way through — don't skip anything.
What we're learning: Does the orientation content match how you'd actually introduce a project to student-associates? What's missing or wrong for your team's context?
Video Production → Photography → Social Media →
Task 2 of 6
Complete Phase 0 and mark it done
At the end of Phase 0, click "Mark Complete." Watch the progress bar and the sidebar update. Then move into Phase 1.
What we're learning: Does the progress tracking feel satisfying, or does it feel like busy work?
Task 3 of 6
Work through Phase 1 and fill in an artifact zone
Move through all the steps in Phase 1. When you hit an artifact zone (the purple "Capture Your Artifact" section), fill it in — link a real document or describe a real piece of work your team has done. Mark the step complete.
What we're learning: Are the steps in the right order? Is anything in Phase 1 out of place or missing for your team's projects?
Task 4 of 6
Hit a checkpoint and write a real reflection
When you reach the first checkpoint, write an actual reflection in the text fields — not a placeholder. Use a real project or real experience from your team. This is the new feature we just built: phase-end reflections that become portfolio evidence.
What we're learning: Do the reflection questions feel specific enough to push real thinking, or are they too generic to be useful?
Task 5 of 6
Log a second Check-In and tag it to a Day 1 artifact
Open the Check-In Log. Log today's standup. This time, check the "Tag a portfolio artifact" option and connect it to one of the artifacts you added on Day 1. Then look at the Portfolio home page — your check-in should appear in the "Recent Check-ins" section.
What we're learning: Does the connection between check-ins and artifact cards feel useful, or does it add friction?
Check-In Log → Portfolio Home →
Task 6 of 6
Use the Work Queue to bookmark something
On any Standard page, hover over an artifact card and click the 📌 Bookmark button. Then open the Work Queue (the 📌 Queue button in the top nav on Standard pages). Check whether your bookmarked item appears.
What we're learning: Does the Work Queue feel useful for tracking what you still need to do, or is it just noise?
Standard 1 → Standard 5 →

🧨 Day 3: Break Things

⏱ ~30 minutes

Today is about pushing the edges and then telling us everything. Try to break things. Create scenarios that feel real. Get on your phone. And then give us your most honest, unfiltered take — including what's missing for your team that this system doesn't have yet.

0 of 6 tasks complete
🏁 All three days done. Now head to the Feedback tab — that's the most important part.
Task 1 of 6
Create a second project in a playbook
Open any playbook and find the project switcher dropdown in the sidebar. Create a new project — give it a different name. Then switch back to your first project and verify your data is still there.
What we're learning: Does the project switcher work reliably? Would student-associates working on multiple clients use this?
Video Production → Photography →
Task 2 of 6
Add a custom artifact card
On any Standard page, scroll to the bottom of a column and click "+ Add Custom Artifact." Create a card for something your team has done that isn't already in the default list. Add a real link and reflection.
What we're learning: Is the custom card feature discoverable? Does it feel as polished as the default cards?
Standard 1 → Standard 5 →
Task 3 of 6
Open the site on your phone
Open dashboard.dwtapex.com on your phone browser. Navigate to the Dashboard, the Check-In Log, and at least one Standard page. Try to interact with them — fill in a field, open a card, tap a button.
What we're learning: Student-associates will use this on their phones. What breaks, what's hard to tap, what's unreadable?
Task 4 of 6
Work through one full standard in Review Prep
Open Review Prep and complete the self-assessment for one full standard — rate yourself at each indicator, write a reflection, and write a goal. Try to imagine you're a student-associate actually preparing for a review conversation with your instructor.
What we're learning: Does the Review Prep format match how performance review conversations actually go in APEX?
Open Review Prep →
Task 5 of 6
Identify the one thing that would make this 10× more useful for your team
Stop navigating. Just think. If this system had to do one more thing to actually fit the way your team works — the projects, the clients, the technical work — what would it be? Be as specific as possible. A feature, a page, a connection, an artifact that doesn't exist yet.
What we're learning: This is the most important question in the whole beta test.
Task 6 of 6
Complete the Feedback tab
Switch to the Feedback tab and fill out the full form. Then click "Submit Feedback" — it goes straight to Russ, no copy-paste needed. This is the payoff for all three days.
What we're learning: Everything. This is what we build from.
Go to Feedback Tab →

Send Your Report to Russ

Hit Submit and your feedback goes directly to Russ — no copy-paste, no Slack message needed.