What steps have been taken by its team/developers in order to ensure scalability and sustainability over time while still maintaining decentralization as well as providing an efficient user experience when interacting with its platform services dApps etc.?

The Solana team has taken a number of steps to ensure scalability and sustainability over time while still maintaining decentralization and providing an efficient user experience when interacting with its platform services, dApps, etc.

First, the Solana team has implemented a unique consensus algorithm called Proof-of-History (PoH). This algorithm is designed to enable the network to process thousands of transactions per second without sacrificing decentralization or security. PoH also allows for faster block times and more efficient data storage.

Second, the Solana team has implemented a novel sharding system called Tower BFT. This system allows for the network to be divided into multiple shards that can process transactions in parallel. This allows for increased scalability and throughput while still maintaining decentralization.

Third, the Solana team has implemented a unique data structure called Sealevel which is designed to provide an efficient way of storing data on the blockchain. Sealevel is designed to be more efficient than traditional blockchain data structures such as Merkle trees and is optimized for fast read/write operations. Finally, the Solana team has implemented a number of other features such as smart contracts, decentralized applications (dApps), and tokenized assets that are designed to make it easier for developers to build applications on top of the platform.

These features are all designed to provide an efficient user experience when interacting with the platform services and dApps.