The System Design Interview

B2 · Upper-intermediate1 hr 10 minIT & TechnologyLesson 4 of 6 · Outline

Aims

Lead a 30-minute design conversation: ask questions, set the scope, draw the main parts and talk about trade-offs in clear English

The lesson, stage by stage

  1. Warm up5 min

    Warm-up: Today's Goal: Lead a Design Conversation

    3 warm-up questions

  1. Reading10 min

    Reading: What the Interviewer Is Judging

    Read a 308-word text about What the Interviewer Is Judging

  2. Vocabulary8 min

    Vocabulary: Words for Design Talks

    8 items

  3. Framework6 min

    Framework: Five Steps for the Design Talk

    The Design Talk (Ask, Define, Scope, Design, Deep Dive), 5 steps

  4. Practice7 min

    Practice: Complete the Design Phrases

    Gap-fill exercise, 7 items

  5. Practice7 min

    Practice: Design It: A Link Shortener

    Short-answer exercise, 1 item

  6. Practice7 min

    Practice: Design It: A Notification Service

    Short-answer exercise, 1 item

  7. Dialogue10 min

    Dialogue: The Interview Itself

    Role-play: A 30-minute system design interview with a senior engineer (5 lines)

  8. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Second Take

    4 discussion questions

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Target vocabulary

In a Tuton account these words become your student's vocabulary deck, so they come back in practice between lessons.

requirementload balancercachemessage queuereplicationshardingtrade-offbottleneck

This plan comes from the Technical Interview English course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.