DDIA System Design Review

Overview

A structured system design review grounded in principles from Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann. Walks through 8 sequential phases — from raw data characteristics to frontend presentation — ensuring no critical design decision is skipped.

When to Use

• Starting a new project and need to make foundational architecture decisions
• Adding a major feature that changes data flow, storage, or consistency requirements
• Reviewing an existing system for design gaps or scaling concerns
• Preparing for a system design discussion or architecture review
• Migrating between architectures (monolith to microservices, SQL to NoSQL, etc.)

When NOT to Use

• Small UI-only changes with no backend/data implications
• Pure refactoring that doesn't change system behavior
• Bug fixes with clear root causes