Architectural Decision Making Questions

Assess how a candidate thinks through major system and technical decisions, including selecting architectures, technologies, and technical strategies. Expect discussion of evaluation criteria such as performance, reliability, scalability, complexity, cost, development velocity, team capability, maintenance burden, and long term evolution. Candidates should explain specific past decisions with clear articulation of the options considered, trade offs accepted, risk mitigation, observed consequences over time, what they would change with current knowledge, and evidence of nuanced judgment when balancing competing priorities. For senior and staff levels, this includes demonstrating influence across teams when making architecture calls, recognizing organization level costs of choices, and surfacing hidden operational or people costs.