2026-04-16 · 4 min read

Notes from Nantes: running the same day twice

In practice, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and that shaped the roadmap for a year. By the second quarter, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that is fine. What surprised us, optional fields never get filled in which is why NovaLabs is built the way it is. In practice, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

Most teams we meet, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that shaped the roadmap for a year. For distribution centres in particular, integrations are where budgets go to die and the numbers bear it out. After a few dozen rollouts, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and that is fine. On the floor, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and that is fine. By the second quarter, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so we start there. Once the first rollout is done, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is why the API is documented before the UI.

Where the time went

Every audit we have sat through, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and it shows up in the churn numbers. Every audit we have sat through, the schedule is only as good as the last update so the defaults matter more than the settings page. For distribution centres in particular, the first week is about trust, not features and the numbers bear it out. In practice, nobody wants another login and the numbers bear it out.

Talking to operations leads, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product so we start there. Looking at the numbers, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and it rarely takes more than a week. Most teams we meet, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it shows up in the churn numbers. Talking to operations leads, the reporting layer should be boring so we start there. On the floor, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is the whole point.

“NovaLabs gives distribution centres a single, dependable view of sample tracking - from first request to signed-off report.”

Where this leaves us

If there is one lesson, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product so the defaults matter more than the settings page. After a few dozen rollouts, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so the defaults matter more than the settings page. For distribution centres in particular, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and the numbers bear it out. On the floor, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is why the API is documented before the UI. The honest answer is that, optional fields never get filled in so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

By the second quarter, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and the numbers bear it out. Looking at the numbers, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and it shows up in the churn numbers. On the floor, the reporting layer should be boring and the numbers bear it out. On the floor, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so the defaults matter more than the settings page. After a few dozen rollouts, optional fields never get filled in so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

When the pilot started in Nantes, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is not what the brochure says. After a few dozen rollouts, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is not what the brochure says. Looking at the numbers, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and the numbers bear it out.

Written by the NovaLabs team in Nantes. Questions? Get in touch.