Design Google Docs
Real-time collaborative editing: many cursors in one document, every keystroke converging to the same text, offline edits merged on reconnect.
2 questions on this site are reported in Figma software engineer interviews. Each has a full reference design (requirements, back-of-envelope numbers, components, user flows and deep dives with interviewer follow-ups). Each one can be walked through turn by turn and then sat as a mock. Patterns covered: crdt, operational-transform, websockets, conflict-resolution, multiplayer, last-writer-wins, fractional-indexing, checkpoints.
Run an AI mock Figma interview →One of these questions, run as a live round in that style, with a debrief at the end.
Attribution comes from public interview guides and candidate reports, not from Figma. It indicates where a question has been asked, nothing more.
Real-time collaborative editing: many cursors in one document, every keystroke converging to the same text, offline edits merged on reconnect.
500 k design files open at once, some with 200 people: objects converge live, cursors stream, and 300 MB files open in seconds.
Often two rounds of about an hour: one on a feature built around Figma components, the other matched to the role. Prompts are product-shaped and close to Figma itself: several people editing or commenting on one file at once, components and their instances, or a list of trending files.
Bringing a generic backend template. Prompts are reported to come from problems Figma has faced, often many people working in one file in real time, so expect to be asked how concurrent edits converge and what a client sees after a reconnect, not only where the data is stored.
From public interview guides and candidate reports, and Figma’s own interview guidance where it publishes any. Not endorsed by Figma. Formats change; treat it as a prior, not a promise.
Large-company loops run 45 to 60 minutes, expect numbers, and spend most of the time on deep dives. Walk through a question to see how a strong candidate paces the hour, sit the same question as a mock until you can produce the requirements, the estimates and the design without looking, then read the interview framework guide for how to structure the hour. The other questions on the site teach patterns that show up in Figma interviews under different names.
Questions reported in Figma system design interviews include Google Docs and Figma. Between them they test crdt, operational transform, websockets, conflict resolution, multiplayer and last writer wins. The reports come from public interview guides and candidate accounts, not from Figma, so practise the patterns rather than memorising one list.
Often two rounds of about an hour: one on a feature built around Figma components, the other matched to the role. Prompts are product-shaped and close to Figma itself: several people editing or commenting on one file at once, components and their instances, or a list of trending files.
Reports say the Figma round weighs 3 things. 1. Concurrent edits to the same object: how they resolve and what each client sees meanwhile. 2. Long-lived connections, and recovering state when a client reconnects. 3. Scaling and storage choices, with the technology named and its cost stated. Bringing a generic backend template. Prompts are reported to come from problems Figma has faced, often many people working in one file in real time, so expect to be asked how concurrent edits converge and what a client sees after a reconnect, not only where the data is stored.
Practise the questions reported there out loud, under a 45-minute clock: requirements with numbers first, then estimates, a high-level design, and deep dives into the two or three hardest parts. Start with Google Docs: watch a strong candidate answer it turn by turn, then sit it yourself. Then cover the patterns the round leans on (crdt, operational transform, websockets and conflict resolution) with one more question each.