ADOBE · SYSTEM DESIGN
Adobe system design interview questions
MTS-1 loops mostly test DSA and fundamentals. MTS-2 and Computer Scientist loops add an LLD round on schema and modular code. Senior Computer Scientist and above alternate DSA with HLD rounds, often on media or cloud services.
Which levels get a design round
| Level | Adobe title | Design round | Low-level design |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDE 1 | MTS-1 / SDE 1–2 | Usually not | – |
| SDE 2 | MTS-2, Computer Scientist / SDE 3 | Usually not | Yes |
| Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3) | Computer Scientist II, Senior Computer Scientist / SDE 4–5 | Yes | Yes |
| Staff Software Engineer | Principal Scientist and above | Yes | – |
Design questions candidates report
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Search typeahead
Design the typeahead box that suggests the top five queries as you type. Requirements and scale (over a hundred thousand requests a second at peak), the suggest API, a trie with top-K cached at every node, an offline pipeline that rebuilds it from query logs, a small real-time layer for trending terms, replication versus sharding, client-side tricks and the trade-offs.
Full walkthrough: Search autocomplete -
URL shortener
A full walkthrough of the classic warm-up with the LADDER method: requirements, scale math for 100 million new links a month at a 100 to 1 read ratio, the API and data model, the high-level design, then the parts interviewers probe: generating unique 7-character codes with base62 and ID ranges, 301 vs 302, caching the redirect path, custom aliases, expiry and abuse.
Full walkthrough: URL shortener Practise on the design board
Also reported
- Car rental system (LLD + schema)
- Elevator system
- Serverless thumbnail generation
- Distributed cache
How to answer any design question: the LADDER method · How the design round is scored by level · Low-level design and machine coding
Questions people ask
When does Adobe ask system design?
A design round is part of the loop for SDE 2 (MTS-2, Computer Scientist / SDE 3), Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3) (Computer Scientist II, Senior Computer Scientist / SDE 4–5), Staff Software Engineer (Principal Scientist and above). MTS-1 loops mostly test DSA and fundamentals. MTS-2 and Computer Scientist loops add an LLD round on schema and modular code. Senior Computer Scientist and above alternate DSA with HLD rounds, often on media or cloud services.
What system design questions does Adobe ask?
Candidates report: Search typeahead; URL shortener; Car rental system (LLD + schema); Elevator system; Serverless thumbnail generation; Distributed cache.
System design questions at other companies
- Amazon
- Microsoft
- Meta
- Apple
- Netflix
- Uber
- Airbnb
- Stripe
- Atlassian
- Goldman Sachs
- Salesforce
- Oracle
- Flipkart
- Walmart Global Tech
- PhonePe
- Swiggy
- Razorpay
System design questions across all companies · Behavioral questions