Comic artist and graphic designer Mirko Ilic reminds us that nothing beats working on the right thing:

INTERVIEWER: “What is your best tip for saving time?”

ILIC: “Think 8 hours, work 2 hours”

System design is the most interesting part of building anything in life but in this case, ‘software’ yet it pauses problems to many because most of the time we want to act before thinking well. This post focuses on simplifying the process of getting started with system design for architecting any software system.

For any system design problem always:

  1. Break Down the Problem into small components. These components can be Services or Features which you need to implement in the System.
  2. Communicate your Ideas While designing the system to keep your interviewer in the loop.
  3. Make some reasonable assumptions while you are designing the System.

Now let’s dive in…

System Design is the process of designing the architecture, components, and interfaces for a system so that it meets the end-user requirements. And it can be divided into two complementary parts:

  1. High-Level Design (HLD) - It lays out the overall architecture of the system — how major components interact, what services or modules will exist, and how data flows among them.
  2. Low-Level Design (LLD) - It covers how each part works & is implemented internally

system design parts

Here are some steps to get started with system design:

  • Understand Requirements - Gather and analyze business needs by consulting stakeholders, users, and documentation.
  • Define Architecture - Identify key system components and how they interact (e.g., services, APIs, databases).
  • Choose Tech Stack - Select appropriate languages, databases, frameworks, and tools based on requirements.
  • Design Modules - Break the system into modules, defining their responsibilities and data flow.
  • Plan for Scalability - Design with growth in mind—anticipate load, optimize bottlenecks, and use scalable patterns.
  • Ensure Security & Privacy - Identify risks and implement measures like authentication, encryption, and data protection.
  • Test & Validate - Write test cases and simulate real-world usage to ensure the system meets requirements.

system-design-steps

System design is important for anyone who wants to build a robust, scalable, and efficient software application or just anything in life.

Pause a moment and look at your body architecture! Appreciate the Chief Architect!

Happy architecting!