System Architecture

At Level 3, you begin shaping architecture proactively. You're trusted to make design decisions that impact multiple components or services, and you consider tradeoffs with clarity. You help evolve the system thoughtfully—refining boundaries, simplifying interactions, and identifying areas that need new abstractions. Your work anticipates scale, performance, and flexibility.

Key Behaviors

  • Proposes and implements structural improvements to subsystems or components
  • Evaluates tradeoffs in complexity, performance, and scalability
  • Writes or contributes to design documents and architecture proposals
  • Refactors boundaries or introduces abstractions to support maintainability
  • Collaborates across teams to align on design direction and shared constraints

Common Struggles

  • May over-engineer to solve problems prematurely
  • Can struggle to communicate architectural reasoning clearly
  • Might make design decisions in isolation without enough validation

Success Indicators

You know you're successful when you:

  • Shape how systems evolve by proposing thoughtful changes
  • Connect implementation details to high-level system goals
  • Use design docs to build consensus and document decisions
  • Guide teammates toward clearer, more scalable designs

Mindset Shift

From:

"I design components and interfaces."

To:

"I design systems that solve real-world problems clearly and scalably."

Questions to Ask Yourself

  • Are we creating complexity we'll regret later?
  • What's the long-term cost of this design, and who pays it?
  • What does success look like in a year for this system?

Build These Habits

  • 1
    Lead architectural discussions with structured proposals
  • 2
    Read and analyze past architecture decisions and migrations
  • 3
    Weigh decisions through the lens of user needs and business goals

Seek Feedback

  • "Is this the right level of abstraction for what we need now?"
  • "Have I captured the tradeoffs clearly in this proposal?"
  • "What failure modes might we be missing?"

Signals You're Ready to Level Up

  • You're sought out for architectural reviews and early-stage planning
  • Your designs reduce friction and improve team velocity
  • You make complexity visible—and work to reduce it

Focus Summary

  • Propose clearly
  • Build scalably
  • Design what's next

At Level 3, you move from keeping the system healthy to helping it evolve. You shape its future with clarity, collaboration, and just enough ambition.