Conversation to System Design

A seven-part, beginner-first series that takes one real conversation with a doctor and turns it into a complete database design — entities, attributes, relationships, keys and all.

7 parts · ~22 min of reading, in order, nothing assumed.

Start with Part 1

🗺️ System design hub

Conversation to System Design · Part 1

Simple Conversation to System Design — Introduction

Start here: what an ER diagram is, and how a simple chat can become a working system. Part 1 of a friendly, beginner-first system design series. Nov 1, 2024 1 min read

Conversation to System Design · Part 2

Chat with a Doctor to Gather Requirements

A real requirements-gathering conversation with a doctor who needs practice-management software — the first step in turning talk into a system design. Nov 2, 2024 4 min read

Conversation to System Design · Part 3

Finding Entities from Conversation

How to spot entities in a plain conversation: hunt the nouns, filter out the noise, and shortlist the things your system really needs to store. Nov 3, 2024 3 min read

Conversation to System Design · Part 4

Deciding Attributes for Entities

Turn entities into tables: choose attributes, understand primary keys and data types, and see the full attribute list for our clinic system. Nov 4, 2024 4 min read

Conversation to System Design · Part 5

Finding Relationships Between Entities

Verbs reveal relationships. Learn one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many with clear examples from our doctor's clinic system. Nov 5, 2024 3 min read

Conversation to System Design · Part 6

Creating Relationships Using Foreign Keys and Junction Tables

Wire the database together: how foreign keys create one-to-many links and how junction tables solve many-to-many relationships. Nov 6, 2024 3 min read

Conversation to System Design · Part 7

Simple Conversation to System Design — Conclusion

The full journey recapped: from a doctor's requirements chat to a complete relational database design — all seven steps in one place. Nov 7, 2024 4 min read