Systems Architecture · · 1 min read
Designing Systems That Scale Past the First Team
Most internal platforms are built for the team that requested them, not the teams that will inherit them. Here's how we design around that.
Internal platforms tend to be built quickly, for one team, under one set of assumptions. Those assumptions rarely survive contact with a second team.
Design for the second consumer, not just the first
The cheapest time to generalize an interface is before a second consumer exists — not after three teams have already built around the first version's quirks.
- Separate the data model from the first team's specific workflow
- Version APIs from day one, even internal ones
- Document assumptions, not just endpoints
Written by the Nyomik team, the engineers who build our clients' software and our own products.