The latest articles on DEV Community by systemdesignboard (@systemdesignboard_b7cbe8a). https://dev.to/systemdesignboard_b7cbe8a https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3994987%2Fca433f19-d7cf-4120-979d-e18dc4aa90e6.png https://dev.to/systemdesignboard_b7cbe8a en systemdesignboard Sun, 21 Jun 2026 06:51:37 +0000 https://dev.to/systemdesignboard_b7cbe8a/i-built-a-free-system-design-whiteboard-for-engineering-interviews-g8l https://dev.to/systemdesignboard_b7cbe8a/i-built-a-free-system-design-whiteboard-for-engineering-interviews-g8l <p>I bombed a system design interview last year — not because I didn't know the architecture, but because I spent the first 5 minutes fighting Excalidraw.</p> <p>So I built <a href="https://systemdesignboard.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">SystemDesignBoard</a> — a free, keyboard-first whiteboard specifically for system design interviews.</p> <h2> What it does </h2> <p>You open it, press a key, and start drawing. No account, no onboarding, no drag-from-a-sidebar friction.</p> <ul> <li> <strong>R</strong> → place a Service node</li> <li> <strong>C</strong> → place a Database/Cache/Queue</li> <li> <strong>A</strong> → connect two nodes</li> <li> <strong>N</strong> → open the scratchpad for scale math</li> </ul> <h2> The features I'm most proud of </h2> <h3> Animated connectors that show communication type </h3> <p>Instead of just drawing arrows, connectors visually encode how services talk:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>⇄ sync</strong> — paired dashes (request + ACK)</li> <li> <strong>≋ stream</strong> — near-solid fast line with glow (continuous pipeline)</li> </ul> <p>This matters in interviews — your interviewer can glance at your diagram and immediately understand the communication pattern.</p> <h3> Cloud provider badges </h3> <p>Tag any node as AWS (EC2, Lambda, RDS, S3), GCP (GKE, Cloud Run, Firestore), or Azure. Each subtype has its own icon.</p> <h3> Trade-off logging </h3> <p>Right-click any node → Log Trade-offs → attach your CAP theorem stance, consistency level, and scaling strategy directly to the component.</p> <h3> Diagram-as-Code </h3> <p>Type:<br> [Mobile App] -&gt; [API Gateway]<br> [API Gateway] -&gt; [Auth Service]<br> [Auth Service] -&gt; [Users DB]<br> [Feed Service] -&gt; [Posts DB x3]<br> [Feed Service] -&gt; [Redis Cache]<br> Hit Apply — it auto-lays out the whole architecture in seconds.</p> <h3> Export to animated GIF </h3> <p>Export your diagram as a GIF that shows live traffic flow animations. Great for sharing after an interview or in a design doc.</p> <h2> Tech stack </h2> <ul> <li><strong>React + TypeScript + Vite</strong></li> <li> <strong>@xyflow/react</strong> (ReactFlow v12) for the canvas</li> <li> <strong>Zustand + Immer</strong> for state with full undo/redo</li> <li> <strong>html-to-image + gifshot</strong> for PNG/GIF export</li> </ul> <h2> It's free and open </h2> <p>No signup required. Works entirely in the browser. Free during beta.</p> <p>👉 <strong><a href="https://systemdesignboard.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">systemdesignboard.com</a></strong></p> <p>Would love feedback — especially from anyone who's done system design interviews recently. What's missing? What's annoying? Drop a comment below.</p> productivity interview distributedsystems systemdesign