The real reason behind those durability demonstration videos we make is simply to prove the heat treat tweaks we've made to 3V to reduce the chippy mushy edge hasn't spoiled the durability of 3V. Our HT didn't make it tougher, it's like that "out of the box" it made it hold an edge better in rough use by reducing issues that cause some of the edge stability shortcomings so common in modern "super steels".
3V is both tougher and has better abrasion resistance than simple steel, but it tends to lose that edge in the form of micro chipping and edge roll when used hard, which is a pretty major problem in a knife designed to be used hard. Hence the need for an optimized HT, and it takes real, repeatable and meaningful testing to optimize a heat treat.
Those videos are not the testing. They're the demonstration. The testing is more repeatable and meaningful, but pretty boring for a video.
I've posted my development testing process in the past and don't feel the need to repeat it. But I guarantee it, if you're using a complex steel, there is going to be some low-hanging-fruit and some not-so-low-hanging-fruit, if you can control your test variables and make a matrix of your process variables, anyone can dial in an optimal HT. Things to consider are times and temps (duh) material condition going into HT, and the timing and types of steps. Something I've learned are there are some rules of thumb that seem to apply almost universally, and there are assumptions you might form after a while that don't hold true with every alloy. Every time I try to optimize an alloy I'm surprised by something I didn't expect. It's helpful to have a good understanding of metallurgy as it applies to heat treat of steel, but it's equally important to experiment, take good notes, and control variables so you really know what you're looking at and not running in circles. A small lab grade oven, a good RC tester, a real cryo setup and the means to wet grind accurate test sample geometry is very helpful to maximizing your signal to noise ratio.
The actual cut tests are designed to evaluate edge stability. Things like wear resistance are largely "built in" to the steel and won't change much. Your tests should be both meaningful and repeatable and as objective as possible. I inspect the edge under bright light and magnification after the cuts and compare to control samples run through the same media at the same time. Don't fall into the trap of cutting a bunch of rope and forming an opinion just from that. You need to cut rope or cardboard or leather, but you also need to carve and chop hardwood and things harder than hardwood to really evaluate edge stability, and run control samples through with it in order to form meaningful judgments. And edge stability is where knives go dull in real use, and it's the one area that's really hard for the industry to measure.
Chopping through concrete with a 4 pound hammer actually can tell you something. In a steel like 3V that has a lath martensite range and a plate martensite range, those hammer blows cause a different kind of failure, depending on the condition of the martensite (not just the hardness). So that little demonstration can actually be genuinely meaningful if you've done it enough and have a "data set" because you'll see when you've overdone it and put too much carbon in solution because it freakin breaks...
just my .02 cents. 
