FREE PREVIEW

The 7 Building Blocks of System Design

The framework behind Instagram, Netflix, and Uber

Taught by Kay Ashaolu, UC Berkeley Lecturer

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"Kay has this incredible ability to make any complex technical challenge seem very simple."

— Former UC Berkeley Student

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The 7 Building Blocks

Every system you'll ever design—Instagram, Netflix, Uber, Slack—uses these same 7 components.

Service
Service
Handles requests
Worker
Worker
Background tasks
Relational DB
Relational DB
Structured data
Key-Value Store
Key-Value Store
Fast lookups
File Store
File Store
Media & files
Queue
Queue
Async messaging
Vector DB
Vector DB
AI & similarity

Once you see it, you can't unsee it. Let's prove it with Instagram ↓

The Instagram Story Problem: System Thinking in Action

Here's the problem that stumps most engineers: Design a system where users can post photos with captions that their followers see in a feed, sorted by recency.

The Code Writer's Confusion

"Should I use MongoDB or PostgreSQL? Maybe Firebase? I heard Redis is fast... Do I need microservices? What about React Native?"

Code writers jump straight to technology choices without understanding requirements. They're guessing, not thinking.

The System Thinker's Approach: Requirements → Building Blocks

System thinkers break it down systematically. Each requirement maps to exactly one building block:

File Store Requirement 1: Users need to upload photos

Building Block: File Store (S3-like storage)

Why: Photos are large binary files. File Store is designed for scalable media storage.

Relational Database Requirement 2: Store post metadata and follower relationships

Building Block: Relational Database (PostgreSQL, MySQL)

Why: Users have many posts. Users have many followers. These are relationships.

Key-Value Store Requirement 3: Generate feeds quickly for millions of users

Building Block: Key-Value Store (Redis, Memcached)

Why: Computing feeds on-demand is too slow. Pre-compute and cache them.

Worker Requirement 4: Process uploaded photos (thumbnails, formats)

Building Block: Worker (background processing)

Why: Image processing takes time. Don't make users wait.

Service Requirement 5: Mobile apps need to access the system

Building Block: Service (REST API)

Why: Service handles request/response for mobile clients.

This is System Thinking

5 requirements → 5 building blocks. No guessing. No random technology choices.

This same approach works for designing ANY system—Twitter, Netflix, Uber, Slack. That's the power of the 7 building blocks.

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Why System Thinking Is Now Mandatory

For decades, engineers followed a predictable career path: Get tasks from seniors → Write code → Gradually increase complexity → Learn system thinking after 3-5 years.

Then AI Changed Everything

AI can translate tasks to code faster than any developer. Tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and Copilot make implementation trivially easy. Code writing ability is now table stakes—an assumed baseline everyone has through AI tools.

The New Differentiator

Implementation Focus

  • "How do I implement this feature?"
  • "What's the syntax for this operation?"
  • "Which library should I use?"
  • Translating requirements into code

AI does this better and faster

System Thinking Focus

  • "What are the fundamental requirements?"
  • "Which building blocks fit this pattern?"
  • "What are the trade-offs?"
  • Making architectural decisions

AI cannot replicate human judgment

Who This Is For

System thinking isn't just for senior engineers. It's the universal skill that transforms how you work with technology—regardless of your role.

Engineers

Stop guessing at architecture. Learn the systematic approach seniors use to design any system—from Instagram to Uber to Slack.

Data Scientists & ML Engineers

Your model is 5% of the system. Learn the other 95% so you can ship to production without waiting for engineers.

PMs, Founders & Technical Leaders

Become "technically dangerous." Understand systems well enough to lead discussions, evaluate trade-offs, and stop just nodding along.

Bootcamp Graduates

Bootcamp taught you to code. This teaches you to think in systems—the gap that separates junior from senior.

What You'll Learn in This Free Preview

This isn't theory. This is a concrete demonstration of what system thinking actually looks like in practice.

Part 1: Why Code Writing Ability Is Now Table Stakes

  • The traditional path is broken: Why the old 3-5 year progression to system thinking no longer works
  • The AI productivity trap: How AI makes you faster at making architectural mistakes
  • Implementation vs architecture: The exact questions that separate system thinkers from code writers
  • The opportunity: Why this transformation accelerates your career, regardless of your role

Part 2: Solving the Instagram Story Problem

  • The problem: Design a system where users post photos with captions that followers see in a feed, sorted by recency
  • Code writer's confusion: Random technology choices without architectural reasoning (MongoDB? Firebase? Redis?)
  • System thinker's approach: Systematically map 5 requirements to 5 building blocks:  File Store Relational DB Key-Value Store Worker Service
  • Trade-off analysis: Why File Store instead of database for photos? Why Worker for processing? Learn the "why" behind each decision
  • Pattern recognition: How this same systematic thinking applies to any system design problem

Part 3: Your Transformation Path

  • The transformation framework: Complete overview of the Systems Thinking in the AI Era course series
  • Why this approach works: Learning universal patterns instead of obsolete technologies
  • Economic comparison: $99-299 vs $1,500-$20,000 traditional alternatives
  • Immediate next steps: The exact path to transform into a confident system thinker

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you design Instagram using building blocks?
System thinkers break down requirements systematically: (1) Photo uploads → File Store building block for large binary files, (2) Post metadata and follower relationships → Relational Database for structured data, (3) Fast feed generation → Key-Value Store for caching, (4) Image processing (thumbnails, formats) → Worker for background tasks, (5) Mobile API → Service for request/response. Each requirement maps to the appropriate building block based on interface patterns, not random technology choices.
What is the Instagram Story Problem?
The Instagram Story Problem is a real system design challenge: Design a system where users can post photos with captions that their followers see in a feed, sorted by recency. This problem demonstrates the difference between code writers (who randomly choose technologies) and system thinkers (who systematically map requirements to building blocks). It shows exactly how to approach any system design problem with building block thinking.
Why is code writing ability now table stakes?
AI tools like Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, and GitHub Copilot can translate well-defined tasks into working code faster than any developer. If someone can break down a task clearly, they can give it directly to AI. Code writing ability is now an assumed baseline everyone has through AI tools—table stakes rather than a differentiator. System thinking is now an essential skill, not something you learn "eventually."
What makes system thinking so valuable?
System thinkers make architectural decisions that AI cannot make. They ask "Which building blocks fit these requirements?" and "What are the trade-offs?" rather than "How do I implement this?" AI can implement any building block perfectly if told which to use, but it cannot make judgments about business context, user needs, growth patterns, and cost constraints that determine which building blocks are appropriate.
Do I need to be an engineer to benefit from this?
No. PMs, founders, data scientists, and technical leaders all benefit from understanding system patterns. You don't need to write code to understand how systems work. The 7 building blocks give you a shared vocabulary to participate in technical discussions, evaluate architectural trade-offs, and make better decisions—without becoming an engineer yourself.
How long is the free preview course?
The free preview is 8 minutes total. You'll see how to design Instagram and Uber using the 7 building blocks framework, understand why this skill is now mandatory in the AI era, and learn what's in the full course. No registration required, watch instantly, 100% free.
What will I learn in this free course?
You'll learn: (1) Why the traditional path to system thinking is broken, (2) The difference between code writer and system thinker approaches, (3) How to design Instagram-like features by systematically mapping 5 requirements to 5 building blocks, (4) Requirements-to-architecture decision-making that sets you apart, (5) The complete transformation path through the 4-course series.
Do I need to register or pay anything?
No. The preview is 100% free with no registration required, no credit card needed, and no email signup. Watch instantly and as many times as you want. After the free preview, Course I costs $99.

Ready to Complete Your Transformation?

This free preview showed you how to design Instagram-like features. The complete course series teaches you the 7 universal building blocks + 3 external entities that compose every system you'll ever work on - from Netflix to Uber to Slack.

Course I: Universal Building Blocks (Required Foundation)

Master the 7 fundamental building blocks and 3 external entities. Learn systematic pattern recognition, trade-off analysis, and architectural decision-making that AI cannot replicate.

Course II: Content Systems (Coming Soon)

Apply building blocks to Instagram, Netflix, YouTube patterns. Master read-heavy workloads, caching strategies, and CDN patterns for global content delivery.

Course III: Real-Time Systems (Coming Soon)

Learn Slack, Discord, WhatsApp patterns. Master real-time messaging, WebSocket patterns, and low-latency communication architectures.

Course IV: Business Integration Systems (Coming Soon)

Master Stripe, Shopify, Salesforce patterns. Learn payment processing, transaction handling, and enterprise integration that directly impacts business revenue.

Course Pricing

$99
per course

This is more than just videos. You get interactive discovery labs, comprehensive assessments, design challenges where you get AI-powered feedback on your architectural thinking, and a complete learning system that validates your transformation to system thinker.

  • Start your transformation to system thinker today
  • Interactive Python labs with hands-on experimentation
  • AI-powered assessment and design feedback
  • Lifetime access to all course updates
  • 24-hour money-back guarantee — try it risk-free
  • Less than a technical book, more valuable than 5 years of trial and error
  • Compare to: $1,500-$4,000 traditional system design courses

At this price with this depth of interactive learning, this is an unprecedented value.

Start with Course I - $99

Ready to Think in Systems?

The engineers, data scientists, and technical leaders who thrive aren't the ones who write more code—they're the ones who understand how systems work and why architectural decisions matter.

This framework transforms how you think about technology.
Start with the free preview. See if it clicks.

Then join the complete course for $99.

Start Course I - $99
Get Full Course - $99
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