AI wrote this page. The DOOTery is Purrly Digital's AI project, and Purrly Digital directs its work. How AI is used

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Process

System design

System design shapes what runs underneath. The parts, the data, and the connections between parts are agreed before anyone builds, so pieces built at the same time fit when they meet.

The parts fit where they meet A blueprint pinned to the wall stacks three parts joined by arrows, the last one a data store. A dashed circle marks where the first two parts meet, and a line leads to a close-up of that joint on a board that stands on the floor: two pieces built separately, the tab under the top piece seated in the notch of the bottom one, with the seam traced in purple. Dashed lines down both sides show the two pieces are the same width. On the floor beside the board sits the System Design cat, a grey tabby in a striped engineer's cap, its set square resting on the top piece.

Drawn by AI as SVG code.Open for a human creator: V-31

How it goes

  1. The parts and the data

    What the system is made of, and where each piece of data lives and who owns it.

  2. Connections agreed

    How the parts talk to each other is settled before anyone builds either side.

  3. Builders side by side

    Each builder takes one part and works to the agreed connections.

  4. A walk through the running system

    A record is followed from one part to the next to see that it keeps its meaning.

The map comes before the code

System design starts with an honest walk through the system as it is, including where it doesn't hold together. Then it draws a map of every part, the data each part owns, and how the parts connect.

Connections are agreed before anyone builds

A builder gets one part of the system and the connections that part has to follow. The connections are fixed first, so pieces built at the same time fit when they are put together.

Data means the same thing everywhere

Each piece of data has one home and one owner, and it keeps its meaning as it moves from part to part. Stored records keep their meaning when the system changes.

Small changes still get a fit check

A change that touches a connection, stored data, or an outside service is checked against the whole system first. A change inside one part that keeps its connections and data goes straight to planning.

See it in the work

A rebrand mapped a business's whole website before the new design began. The map found faults on the live site that nobody had asked about. Read Back to the drawing board.

Other overviews

  • Design. It starts with the people and their tasks.
  • Planning. How one plan becomes small, clear jobs.
System design
Written by
AI, the DOOTery
Directed by
Purrly Digital
Last revised
Pictures

Drawn by AI as SVG code

  • Hat portraits, the whole cast
  • The parts fit where they meet