17 articles in high level design › interview framework.
A 6-phase framework for any system design interview: requirements, NFRs, APIs, flows, architecture, and deep dives, with time splits for each.
How to turn a vague system design prompt into a focused build plan in under 5 minutes, so you design the right system instead of a generic one.
The 6 NFRs that drive every architecture decision in system design interviews, with concrete thresholds and the questions that surface them.
The 3-step estimation formula for any system design interview: numbers to memorize, the math that drives decisions, and shortcuts that save time.
Translate estimates into infrastructure decisions: when to add a cache, when to shard, when to go multi-region, and how to present it in an interview.
The latency numbers, storage conversion rules, and throughput estimates you need for back-of-envelope calculations in system design interviews. Plus a worked example showing how these numbers combine to guide design decisions.
Why sketching the API contract before the architecture produces better system designs, and how to define endpoints, parameters, and responses in the first 10 minutes.
How to design a data schema in a system design interview, starting from entities, mapping access patterns, picking storage, and making normalization decisions.
How to draw a clear, interview-worthy architecture diagram: what components to include, how to label data flows, and how to layer complexity over three rounds.
A repeatable framework for when the interviewer says 'now scale it to 10x': how to identify bottlenecks, pick the right scaling strategy, and communicate the trade-offs.
How to allocate your 45 minutes in a system design interview so you reach deep dives with time to spare, instead of running out halfway through the architecture.
How to use the last 5 minutes of a system design interview to reinforce your strengths, address gaps, and leave the interviewer with a confident final impression.
The 15 most common system design interview mistakes, organized by category, with specific bad examples and concrete fixes for each.
The 20 most common design gaps that interviewers notice and candidates miss. Run through this checklist mentally before wrapping up to catch the problems that silently cost you points.
What to do when you get a system design question you have never seen before: the first-principles decomposition that works for any prompt, from Twitch to a parking garage.
What interviewers expect at junior, senior, staff, and principal level in a system design interview, with concrete examples of what each level says vs. does differently.
The 100 most important system design terms defined with precision. Use this to communicate accurately in interviews and code reviews — knowing exactly what 'partition tolerance' means vs. 'availability', or 'durability' vs. 'consistency'.