Case Studies for Practicing Architectural Styles

04: Architectural styles View the related exercise.

Architecture Styles Worksheet

01 ShopTheDrop

A small e-commerce brand runs limited-stock flash sales ('drops') that generate short, extreme traffic spikes.

Users

• Customers
• Customer Service
• Warehouse Staff

Requirements

• Generally minimal load, but there may be 5-10 minute spikes in traffic.
• No orders may be lost or unpaid.
• No more items may be sold than are in stock.

Additions

• The development team consists of two people.
• The budget is tight.
• It is acceptable if an order remains in a 'pending' state for ~1 minute.

02 DeBi

A real-time map showing bike and station availability. Stations frequently send updates, but may occasionally go offline.

Users

• Bikers
• City operators
• Maintenance staff

Requirements

• The map should display bike availability in real time.
• The app should remain responsive even during peak hours.
• Historical data should be available for future analysis.

Additions

• If a station is offline, updates may arrive late and out of chronological order.

03 GetMeOut

Collect and export all personal data associated with a user from multiple internal (including legacy) systems, with source attribution.

Users

• Data Protection Officers
• Administrators
• End users (indirectly)

Requirements

• The export must be completed within 24 hours at the latest, but preferably within a few hours.
• The report must be accurate and complete.
• It must also connect to systems that cannot be modified.

Additions

• The system is constantly being expanded with new components, which then require exporting.

04 InfluPay

A platform that pays content creators weekly based on views and subscriptions.

Users

• Content Creators
• Finance
• Customer Service
• Auditors

Requirements

• Weekly payments, in an auditable manner.
• View and subscription data may arrive late (even weeks later).
• Reversal and re-payment in case of incorrect calculations.

Additions

• Audits: 'Why was the payment exactly this amount?'

05 DeadNation

Ticket sales for concerts by the world's biggest artists.

Users

• Ticket buyers
• Customer Service
• On-site operation

Requirements

• Tens of thousands of interested people.
• Manage extreme peaks for 5-15 minutes without crashing.
• Same chair can't be sold twice.
• „Holding chair for N minutes”, then auto-release if no payment.
• Quick feedback and „almost live” seat map.

Additions

• Significant budget.
• Payment provider responses may be delayed.