Constraint Identification
1 min read
Surface the hard constraints (regulatory, latency, budget) that narrow the design space.
Surface the hard constraints — regulatory, latency, budget — that eliminate design options before you invest time exploring them.
How It Works
Constraints are non-negotiable limits that eliminate design options. Technical constraints: max latency, storage budget, bandwidth limits. Business constraints: regulatory compliance (GDPR, HIPAA), cost ceilings. Operational constraints: must run on existing infrastructure, must integrate with legacy systems. In interviews, asking about constraints early demonstrates mature architectural thinking.
Real-World Example
Designing a healthcare messaging system, HIPAA compliance is a hard constraint: messages must be encrypted at rest and in transit, audit logs must be immutable, and data must not leave approved regions. This eliminates many off-the-shelf solutions.
Test Yourself
Scenario: You are asked to design a patient records system for a US hospital network with 5M patients. Before you draw a single box, what hard constraints do you surface? List the questions you would ask, and explain why each one kills design options.
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