Delivery Management System
Reported by candidates from Akuna's online assessment. Pattern, common pitfall, and the honest play if you blank under the timer.
Akuna hit you with a design problem in September, and that means they're testing whether you can architect a system under pressure, not just code a single function. You've got 24 hours before the OA, so you need to know the scope: are you building a delivery tracker, a route optimizer, a customer-facing app, or a backend service. The trick isn't the code. It's asking clarifying questions before you write anything, then picking the right data structures and APIs. StealthCoder can't design for you, but it's a safety net if you blank on implementation details during the live assessment.
Pattern and pitfall
Design problems at Akuna aren't LeetCode. You'll need to sketch entities (Delivery, Driver, Route, Customer), define APIs (createDelivery, updateStatus, getDeliveryStatus), and talk through trade-offs. The pitfall most candidates hit: they jump straight to code without discussing scale, latency, or failure modes. Start by asking how many deliveries per day, whether drivers are in real-time or batch, and if the system needs to handle cancellations. Then propose a simple schema. Use a hash table for lookups by ID, a queue or priority queue for dispatch, and a log or event stream for status updates. Mention database choice and why (SQL for ACID, NoSQL for scale). The real test is clarity of thought and communication, not a perfect implementation.
StealthCoder is the hedge for the one pattern you didn't drill. It runs invisibly during the screen share.
You can drill Delivery Management System cold, or you can hedge it. StealthCoder runs invisibly during screen share and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. The proctor sees the IDE. They don't see what's behind it. If you're reading this with an OA window open, you're who this was built for.
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Delivery Management System FAQ
Do I need to code the full system or just the design?+
Akuna wants both. Sketch the high-level architecture on a whiteboard or document first. Then code the core classes and methods that handle core flows, like creating a delivery and updating its status. You don't need a live database, but show you know how to structure it.
What's the trick to design problems at Akuna?+
Ask questions before designing. Clarify scale, consistency requirements, and what 'delivery' means in their context. Then propose, don't over-engineer. A simple, well-reasoned design beats a complex one that you can't explain. Mention trade-offs explicitly.
Should I use a real database or mock it?+
If you have time, use a real one (even SQLite in memory). If not, mock it with a dictionary or in-memory store. The important part is showing you know ACID properties, indexing, and when to denormalize. Don't spend 30 minutes on database setup.
How long should I spend on the design doc versus code?+
Spend 15-20 minutes on a written or verbal design. Then code for 30-40 minutes. Leave 10-15 minutes to test edge cases and talk through what you'd do differently with more time. Design-heavy problems reward clarity over polish.
Is this problem still asked at Akuna?+
Yes. Delivery and logistics systems are core to Akuna's business. They rotate the exact domain, but the structure is always the same: entities, state transitions, APIs, and scalability. Expect follow-up questions about handling driver availability or delivery windows.