You’re reading The Steady Beat, a weekly-ish round-up of hand-picked articles and resources for people who make software products: designers, engineers, product managers, and organizational leaders.
Scoops by the Numbers
- $113 billion — The estimated global ice cream industry size, proving that this frozen treat is more than just a dessert; it’s a massive business.
- 4,000 liters — Amount of ice cream produced every hour by Tetra Pak’s continuous freezers, making sure no freezer aisle goes empty.
- 20% — The overrun, or air content, in an artisanal gelato, giving it that dense, luxurious texture. Meanwhile, some budget supermarket ice creams have an overrun exceeding 100%.
- -5 degrees Celsius — The temperature at which ice cream is churned in the freezing stage, where the magic of air incorporation happens.
- 2 million — The number of ice cream sticks Tetra Pak’s production lines churn out daily, because one scoop is never enough.
— Wired, 5m
Meetings Up, Productivity Down
Filestage CEO Niklas Dorn knows a thing or two about keeping remote teams productive. His secret? Cut back on meetings. Dorn argues that too many meetings disrupt workflow and drain productivity, so his team focuses on asynchronous communication tools like Loom and Vidyard to get things done without clogging calendars. It’s all about hiring the right people, organizing communication with strong documentation, and keeping team culture alive through virtual hangouts and occasional retreats. Less meeting, more doing.
— CEOWORLD Magazine, 7m, #management #productivity
Instagram’s Sonic Misfire
Instagram’s new sonic logo was meant to symbolize everyday creativity but instead has left users startled and confused. By starting with a low-frequency kick drum that mobile speakers can’t handle, followed by glitchy stuttering sounds, the logo evokes a sense of technical failure rather than brand connection. The lesson? Sonic branding should focus on evoking emotion and aligning with user experiences. A warm, smooth sound might have better reflected Instagram’s creative spirit. Brands can learn that great sonic logos need to communicate effortlessly, not trigger confusion.
— Creative Bloq, 7m, #design #branding
Echoing Efficiency
Steady’s latest update is all about speeding things up and cutting through the noise. With 3x faster response times and better notification controls, your workflow just got smoother. And the big reveal? Echoes, a new feature designed to automatically deliver the info you need on schedule—think summaries of projects, goals, or even team absences, right when you need them. It’s like having your own personal assistant for staying in the loop, without the manual digging. Plus, we’re looking for beta testers, so if you’re into smart automation, now’s the time to raise your hand.
— Steady Blog, 4m, #management #coordination
Automation: Easier Said Than Done
Automating anything is always harder than it looks, especially once you factor in all the exceptions that make each process unique. Steven Sinofsky breaks down how every step in automation quickly gets bogged down by edge cases—those unforeseen scenarios that throw off the entire system. Whether it’s a customer making a last-minute request or a medical diagnosis based on incomplete information, the challenges lie not in the routine but in the exceptions. Automation promises to help us, but don’t hold your breath waiting for software to replace human problem-solving anytime soon.
— Steven Sinofsky, 9m, #engineering
Less Meetings, More Context
Have you tried Steady? It’s an AI-powered coordination layer that eliminates 83% of meetings for software teams.
Steady runs in the background, distilling plans and progress from tools, teams, & people into tailored summaries, giving everyone the clarity they need to build outstanding products together. With Steady, everyone has continuous context at their fingertips, eliminating the need for burdensome shoulder taps, interruptions, and endless meetings.
Learn more at steady.space.
