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Do you know how to design systems, and you just can’t draw them? Or do you need to learn how to design systems.

If it’s the former, just practice drawing something you’ve designed with boxes, labels, and arrows.

I’d it’s the latter I’d recommend https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54109255 as a good intro to the kind of “systems design” they do in interviews.

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Hi jrimbault, article author here, like any skill this needs to be developed. As sarchertech says if you already know how to design systems but struggle with the drawing then practice is the key. When I started out the diagrams I produced were messy and not very presentable, but I kept refining them. Take the opportunities you have before you, for example, if you're building a system at work then take some time to try and draw up some architecture diagrams and run them by some people who you think will give you good feedback. Then keep refining them. If it's the later then there are some videos on youtube that introduce the C4 model - the key thing is to pick a method and try to stick with it, whether that is c4 or arch42 etc, try to learn the underlying principles and apply them.

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