Originally published on Substack

It is agreeable that web3 is the next phase of the internet. However, as with any emerging technology, the success of web3 depends on its mass adoption. In order to achieve this, it is crucial that builders and product developers consider the needs of the end user.

Unfortunately, many current web3 decentralized applications (dApps) fall short in terms of user experience. This is a major concern, as the current user base for web3 dApps is largely made up of Millennials and Gen Z, who are accustomed to high-quality digital products and have high expectations when it comes to UX design.

In order to overcome this challenge, web3 builders and product developers need to focus on improving the UX of their applications. This could include investing in user research and testing, incorporating user feedback into the design process, and prioritizing simplicity and ease-of-use in the development of new products.

What needs to be done?

A good first step is integration of user feedback. Feedback is essential for web3 dApps as it helps developers identify bugs and security issues and also encourages user engagement.

With web3 dApps being a relatively new and evolving technology, user feedback is even more crucial for developers to enhance the dApp's functionality, user interface, and user-friendliness. Thereby, creating more robust and successful web3 dApps.

Now, this is where Dean’s List DAO comes in.

Dean’s List DAO knows the importance of feedback to product development and is offering its services to web3 builders.

What Is The Dean's List Dao?

Dean's List is a small group of web3 experts and Solana power users who are committed to the development of user-friendly dApps by providing detailed feedback to all types of projects.

Inquisitive minds may wonder: is feedback so important in the rapidly-evolving landscape of web3 solutions?

The answer is simple: feedback has always been a critical component of improving the user , and it is no different in the world of web3. Centralized platforms have long understood the value of customer surveys and reviews in shaping their products and services. Reviews on platforms like the Play Store, App Store, and Amazon are just a few examples of how feedback is incorporated into the design and development process.

The essence of Deanslist DAO is rooted in the desire to share thoughts and feedback about a tool, a game, or even a meal with others. However, historically, sharing feedback has been an unpaid service. Platforms often solicit user feedback for free, even when they stand to benefit greatly from it. In some cases, platforms may even gamify the process, requiring users to engage with their products extensively before they can receive any form of reward or recognition.

Deanslist DAO believes that feedback is a valuable service that should be rewarded appropriately. By incentivizing users to share their feedback and insights, a more equitable and sustainable ecosystem is created for all stakeholders.

Past Clients of Dean’s List

Dean's List DAO has worked with many Solana builders and has successfully reviewed 24 projects within a year. Some of the projects they have worked on include:

• Samudai

• Beluga Protocol

• Grape Verification

• Stream Flow

• Strata Protocol

• ChapterX

• Gilder

In the last Solana Summer Hackathon, Dean's List DAO helped participants build better solutions by providing extensive feedback on the user interface and experience of their products. Additional insights were shared into how best these teams could win the hackathon. These hackathon projects include:

• PoolProps

• Tensor

• Dual Finance

• Candypay

• Cini

• Monstre

• Chatterverse, and

• Epics DAO

Deanslist and GrizzlyThon Participants Stories Of Dean’s list Dao

Due to the valuable feedback provided by DeansList, many of the aforementioned projects have successfully implemented changes and improvements that have had a significant impact on their projects. Here are some of Deanslist past partners testimonials:

Monstre: If you ask me if I'll do it again. Yes, I will do it again. There's so much information that Dean's List has provided that we don't see

Cini: I didn't know you could do it (feedback) that deep. Well, you gave a lot of feedback and realized something pointing to the right way.

Hawksight: Us, as builders, we are just being an eco chamber, and I would think this page or button is cool. But if 99% of people disagree, the project will not take off.

From these testimonials, it is evident that Deanslist reviews are in-depth and insightful.

Deanslist and GrizzlyThon Participants

It is difficult to imagine separating hackathons from the Solana ecosystem, as the platform has become an increasingly popular choice for developers and innovators looking to build web3 applications and services.

In 2022, Solana hosted two highly successful hackathons - the Riptide Global Hackathon and the Solana Summer Camp Online Hackathon - which brought together some of the brightest minds in the industry to collaborate and create innovative solutions using Solana's cutting-edge technology. Currently, Solana is set to host the Grizzlython Hackathon, which promises to be another exciting event for developers and entrepreneurs.

Grizzlython is the seventh Solana hackathon that will pay out $5 million in prizes as seed funding to builders. Aside from the overall winner, the prizes will be distributed across the top 5 winning projects in the following categories: Mobile, DeFi, Payments, Web3 Consumer, Tools + Infrastructure, Gaming, and DAOs + Network States.

The Solana Summer Camp Online Hackathon saw about 180,000 participants and 750 projects. These numbers reveal that Solana hackathons are highly competitive. Now, that's where Dean's List shows their strength - helping builders win.

The DAO members are Solana power users with extensive experience working with products. They've helped the past Solana Summer Camp Online hackathon participants win various categories. Examples of such projects include CandyPay, Monstre, Epics DAO, Tensor, Cini, and Chatterverse.

So, it is expected that they can make magic for the current Grizzlython hackathon projects. They are working with five projects under the Grizzlython, including Nodia, Alchemy, Shyft, Krk Finance, and Sunrise stake.

How To Join Dean’s List DAO?

After seeing the impact of this service DAO, the only proper thing to ask is how to get involved.

To the surprise of many, there is no public discord. New members have to earn their way into the DAO. How do you earn your way?

There are three approaches to becoming a Dean's List DAO member or perhaps a Dean's List "One of Us".

One of Us is the tag given to members of the Dean's List DAO.

The three approaches are:

• Buying the Grape-backed $DEAN token

• Purchasing a membership on their Coinable page

• With Crew3 quests

Buying the Grape-backed $DEAN token

A fast way to become a member of Dean's List is to purchase at least 1 $DEAN token. To do this, you need some $GRAPE tokens, which will be swapped to $DEAN on Strata Protocol. After that, you'll get access to the private discord and the governance protocol.

Purchasing the Membership

This is the least fun way. All that is needed is to visit Dean's List coinable store and purchase the membership. The membership costs $50. After purchase,  access to the private Discord server will be granted.

Crew3 Quests

Without spending funds, DAO enthusiasts can still become part of the Dean's List. All that is needed is to complete the crew3 quests up to level 5. At level 5, participants will get access to the private community.

It is worth noting that reaching level 5 on the Crew3 quests is not a difficult feat. The quests are designed to introduce users to the DAO and help them become familiar with its operations before diving into the community. Unlike other projects, the Crew3 quests do not involve the typical retweeting, liking, and commenting on posts, making the process more engaging and enjoyable.

Completing the quests involves tasks such as learning more about the DAO, posting feedback, writing about a previous client, and making introductions. The team provides a generous number of XPs to those who complete the quests, making it easy to rack up points and achieve level 5.

The gamified approach to onboarding users into the Dean's List DAO is a great way to get involved in the community and begin contributing to the project. It also serves as an effective method for identifying and filtering out airdrop hunters, who are less likely to complete the quests and engage with the community in a meaningful way.

What Do Deanslist Members Do?

There are currently three things that members do in the DAO:

• Give feedback

• Vote on proposals

• Work for the DAO

Give feedback

It's easy for anyone to join the Dean's List DAO with just one $DEANS token. The only requirement is to provide valuable and detailed feedback, which will be rewarded with payment.

Quality is essential, and the DAO has a dedicated grader who assesses the feedback to ensure it meets their standards. If the feedback is not detailed enough, it will be rejected.

Contribute to Governance

To ensure active participation in governance, members can create and vote on proposals in the Dean's List DAO. However, it's important to note that proposals are only open for a 24-hour period, so members need to stay vigilant and keep track of them.

Participate in the DAO Forum

Aside from voting on proposals, members can lend their voices and make suggestions to the DAO. They can also contribute to the day-to-day running of the DAO.

Reward For Members

The DAO founding team understands that giving feedback should not be free. Builders will pay for the review/feedback services provided, while the DAO will also pay its contributors.

Plans For Deanslist DAO

Deans List was previously a sub-DAO under the Grape protocol DAO. However, there was the need for a separate DAO, and the Dean's List DAO sprung forth.

Like that big move, there will be other big moves in the near future. Some of such will be opening up the community to members and contributors who can provide feedback and also help the DAO scale. They are also constantly iterating to make the best decisions for the community.

However, the team is planning for huge moves in the short term. It is planning to airdrop its new tokens to everyone who has gotten involved with the DAO - in any way. It is also launching an exclusive NFT collection in March.

Upcoming Dean's Token Launch: The Airdrop

There's a Grape-backed token that follows a bonding curve and is called $DEAN. It powers the DAO. You can get it by swapping GRAPE tokens on Strata Protocol. However, the DAO plans to move away from this model.

They want to create a new token (the name is yet to be decided). This new token will be the governance token of the DAO. Hence, it will be unrelated to members' payout. However, it will be distributed to people who participated in the governance of the DAO.

As mentioned earlier, proposals are readily available for voting. The DAO works in such a way that the proposals are open for only 24 hours, so members need to watch the protocol and append votes constantly.

So, for the airdrop, members with many voting activities will be airdropped with the most tokens. This group will be called the Hardcore group. Further along the line, there will be Softcore and other groups.

The general strategy for the airdrop distribution is that the lower the level of participation, the smaller the number of tokens to be airdropped.

The DAO is leveraging on this strategy to achieve a high quorum in its governance. It aims for a 50 to 60% quorum instead of 3 to 5%.

Why do they need a high quorum? It is vital to get a higher level of involvement as it is the metric of a healthy community. It shows sign of high participation.

Keeping the quorum goal in mind, Dean's List may keep its distribution to a maximum of 100 wallets. Instead of aiming for thousands of people that may be difficult to manage, the DAO should remain small and effective.

However, this does not mean the Dean's List is closing its community to new people. Members can come in, drop feedback, and contribute to the scalability of the DAO. But they will not have voting rights.

Tokenomics

60% of the tokens will be distributed as an airdrop to the members of the DAO. The remainder will be kept in the DAO treasury as a reserve for invited members.

Of the 60% to be distributed, it is further broken down into:

• 40% split of 60% for Hardcore members

• 15% spit of 60% for Softcore members

• 5% remainder of 60% for the rest participants

For the distribution, there will also be a short claiming period were members can send their existing old Grape-backed $DEAN tokens to the DAO.

Questions on most minds will be on eligibility for the airdrop. It's not complicated. Here are some surefire ways to be eligible:

• Complete Crew3 Quests

• Vote on the governance protocol

• Give Feedback

• Hold the Grape-backed $DEANS token

• Hold the exclusive NFT collection

The NFT collection? Yes!

Dean's List NFT Collection

There will be an exclusive 1/1 Profile picture (PFP) NFT collection for the Solana community. Guess what? The supply will be 96 and launched on the 3rd of March at 1:00 PM UTC.

Now, the real question is how to get whitelisted. The only way to find out is to get into the private discord server.

Conclusion

Feedback plays a crucial role in the development and success of web3 products and protocols. As these decentralized technologies continue to grow and evolve, developers and communities must seek feedback from users and stakeholders to improve their offerings.

Deans list DAO provides valuable feedback and insights from a diverse range of users, enabling developers to understand their audience better and tailor their products and protocols accordingly.

Therefore, we urge web3 developers and communities to actively engage with Deanslist DAO to understand their users' needs and preferences better. By doing so, they can create more user-friendly and effective products and protocols, ultimately driving the growth and adoption of decentralized technologies.