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How can I write a great design doc?

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Software Engineering Intern at Samsara2 years ago

I've been asked to write a design doc for my project; Samsara even has a structure to follow for these. After I understand how the overall system works, I will tackle. I want to make sure that there's a strong storytelling element in my doc, avoiding as much jargon as possible.

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    Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero, PayPal
    2 years ago
    • Keep it short: 2-3 pages should be fine. The bar shouldn't be too high for an intern - Don't let this doc "meta-work" distract you from the core intern goal of building strong coding ability.
    • Be concise. Use simple language and "ELI5" style explanations where you can.
    • Overall structure:
      • Context/motivation (including a list of POCs)
      • Proposed technical approach (with pros and cons)
      • Consensus reached

    If you want to see a real-life, in-depth example of this, check out my System Design course: System Design Masterclass: Taro Playlists

Samsara Inc. is an American IoT company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Samsara develops a connected operations platform for tracking fleets of vehicles and other equipment.
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