Name all 6 archetypes and their core goal from memory. For each, state the one infrastructure pattern that is most characteristic of it.
LinkedIn combines three archetypes. Identify them. For each seam between archetypes, describe the most likely failure mode at that seam.
A new product manager describes their product as “like Dropbox but with collaboration features.” Which archetypes are in play? How would you use the archetype model to quickly identify the top three architecture decisions the team needs to make?
A2 (Social & Communication) systems face a fundamental tension between fan-out at write time and fan-out at read time. Explain both approaches, name the tradeoff from F4, and describe the conditions under which each is preferred.
You are reviewing a design for a “personalised news feed” product. Without any additional information, what are the three most likely FM3 instances (Unbounded Resource Consumption) specific to this archetype? What would prevent each?
Concept: F6 — The 6 System Archetypes
Thread: T8 (Divide & Conquer) ← Problem classification in algorithm selection (Book 2, Ch 20) → System decomposition into recognisable patterns (Book 7, Ch 6)
Core Idea: Six archetypes — Search & Discovery, Social & Communication, Marketplace & Transaction, Media Delivery, Data Intelligence, Platform & API — each with characteristic infrastructure, tradeoffs, and failure modes. Identify the archetype and you know what questions to ask first about any unfamiliar system.
Tradeoff: Generality vs Specialisation (F4 #6) — the archetypes are general categories; real systems combine them; the seams between archetypes are where the interesting design problems live
Failure Mode: FM8 (Schema / Contract Violation) is the most archetype-agnostic failure mode — it appears at the seam between any two archetypes whenever data crosses a boundary without an explicit contract
Signal: Onboarding to a new system; starting a new system design; trying to identify which framework chapters are most relevant for a given product
Maps to: Reference Book Ch 9 (F5 review questions can be tailored per archetype); Book 4 (each chapter is one archetype); Book 7 Ch 6–8 (platform and marketplace strategy)