Preparing for a mobile system design interview feels like wandering into a backend-heavy maze.

Most resources (such as books, cheat sheets or YouTube videos) talk about backend specific system design topics; load balancers, redis, and servers in multiple regions.

That’s great information, sure. But not exactly what you’ll face when asked how to sync offline edits or build a photo uploader that works in the background.

You’re more likely to get questions related to building features for a local architecture. Such as how to design a feed for a social media app, or a feature flag system (to remotely enable and disable parts of features), or how to ensure a feature can work without an internet connection.

Mobile challenges are very different, and often focused on UI in combination with local architectures. After all, you’re shipping a single binary (app), which comes with more challenges related to a local codebase, shared with others.

Preparing for a mobile system design interview doesn’t have to mean studying backend infrastructure. Here’s how to prepare efficiently with mobile-focused examples and tools.

Resources

Short on time?

Read the free Mobile System Design Interview Guide (~15 min)
This guide shows you what to expect during an interview. So you aren’t going in blind.

Prepare using the Mobile System Design Cheat Sheet (Part of paid Book Bundle)
This is the fastest, most focused prep available. It shows you how to get hidden requirements, contains printable checklists, how to design component API’s, and has diagram walkthroughs.

It’s part of the book bundle, so when you purchase this guide to get that job, you have the books to further grow your career.

Have more time?

• Video: Maximize Design Briefings; Working With Designers (12 min)
  It’s focused on working with designers, but it’s also one of the clearest ways to see how to extract deeper visual requirements. That’s something that helps in many MSD interviews. Since it’s a video, it’s a more visual way to see how to get hidden requirements clear.

• Related Article: Receiving designs as a developer (7 min)
  This is a readable version of how to extract hidden requirements when briefed with a UI-based feature.

• Article: Deliver reusable components without making them reusable (7 min)
  In an interview you’re introducing new components. Here are some crucial tips for naming them. It helps you think about abstractions, roles, and makes it more clear what you’re working with. For both you and the interviewer.

• Article: What if your feature was a Command Line Tool? (5 min)
  Developers struggle sometimes where to place business logic. This article gives crucial insights on how to divide UI from the business layer.

• Mobile System Design book, chapter 2: Turning a Briefing into a Strong Plan
  Get more out of a briefing with diagramming tips and strategies to gather deeper insights from stakeholders.

• Mobile System Design book, Chapter 3: Holistic-Driven Development; Turning a plan into code
  Learn how to go from concept to code fast without getting stuck in the details.

Good luck!

Interviewing can be stressful and unpredictable.

Luckily, the system design interviews can be the most fun of all of them. A good interview can feel like a collaborative whiteboard session, or even a bit like pair programming.