Software Engineering Radio - the podcast for professional software developers SE Radio 704: Sriram Panyam on System Design Interviews
Jan 21, 2026
Sriram Panyam, a technical fellow with experience at GM, Google, and LinkedIn, dives into the nuances of system design interviews. He breaks down common questions from tech giants like Uber and Netflix while clarifying what interviewers truly seek: clarity on requirements and effective time management. Sriram shares personal tales of failure and success, highlights common pitfalls interviewers make, and offers a strategic approach for candidates to succeed. His insights on adapting questions based on seniority are not to be missed!
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What System Design Interviews Really Test
- System design interviews test your ability to break down ambiguous, large-scale problems and reason about trade-offs.
- They measure experience, maturity, and how you manage time and expectations, especially at senior levels.
Clarify Scope Before Designing
- Clarify and drive requirements early: ask what part of the product they want you to design.
- State assumptions and scope so you can focus your design on the interviewer's intent.
Failure Led To A Backwards, Quantitative Shift
- Sriram failed early design interviews because he threw technologies on the board without quantifying requirements.
- A pivotal Uber interview taught him to work backwards from when the first request would fail and to use concrete SLO numbers.
