System Design Interview Framework

System design interviews can be intimidating, but with the right framework, you can tackle any question confidently.

The 7-Step Framework

1. Clarify Requirements (5 min)
2. Estimate Scale (5 min)
3. Define APIs (5 min)
4. High-Level Design (10 min)
5. Deep Dive (15 min)
6. Bottlenecks (5 min)
7. Trade-offs (5 min)

Key Principles

• Always start with requirements
• Think about scale early
• Consider trade-offs
• Don't over-engineer

Common Mistakes

• Jumping to solutions too quickly
• Ignoring non-functional requirements
• Not considering scale
• Missing edge cases

Master this framework and system design interviews will become predictable!