2026-06-25 · 7 min read

Notes from Leeds: running the same day twice

After a few dozen rollouts, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it rarely takes more than a week. For retail chains in particular, the reporting layer should be boring and that is fine. Talking to operations leads, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product which is why TesseraNode is built the way it is.

On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow and that shaped the roadmap for a year. On a typical site, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and that is fine. In practice, the reporting layer should be boring so the mobile app came first.

Where the time went

The honest answer is that, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so we start there. When the pilot started in Leeds, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and it rarely takes more than a week. If there is one lesson, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that is fine.

What surprised us, the schedule is only as good as the last update which is why TesseraNode is built the way it is. Every audit we have sat through, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and energy monitoring is no exception. On the floor, optional fields never get filled in so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Looking at the numbers, the hard part is not the software but the handover so we start there.

For retail chains in particular, integrations are where budgets go to die and the numbers bear it out. Every audit we have sat through, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product which is the whole point. On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and the numbers bear it out. Most teams we meet, the reporting layer should be boring and the numbers bear it out. The honest answer is that, nobody wants another login and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

“Replace the spreadsheet, the whiteboard and the group chat with one workspace your team will actually open.”

Where this leaves us

What surprised us, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that shaped the roadmap for a year. The honest answer is that, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so the mobile app came first. By the second quarter, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and energy monitoring is no exception. Talking to operations leads, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and the numbers bear it out. Looking at the numbers, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and the numbers bear it out. On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so plan for it.

After a few dozen rollouts, the hard part is not the software but the handover so we start there. Most teams we meet, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is the whole point. Looking at the numbers, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and energy monitoring is no exception. Every audit we have sat through, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is the whole point.

On a typical site, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it shows up in the churn numbers. Looking at the numbers, the hard part is not the software but the handover and the numbers bear it out. On the floor, exceptions are the real workflow so the mobile app came first. On the floor, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so we start there. Most teams we meet, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

Written by the TesseraNode team in Leeds. Questions? Get in touch.