Systems, Explained
Common system designs, explained through real-world constraints — not buzzwords.
Tools change.
Constraints don't.
These are the kinds of systems I design — and how I think about them.
Each system below shows how responsibility, data, and failure move through the architecture.
Select a system to see how its parts interact.
Content platforms optimize for read performance and editorial workflows. They handle predictable, read-heavy traffic where content changes infrequently compared to views.
This architecture breaks down when content structure changes frequently, when real-time updates are required, or when write operations become as common as reads.
Separate content creation from delivery, and cache aggressively.
Systems don't need to be loud to be effective.