System Design: Place of Interest (POI) / Yelp Service

System DesignOpenAILast reported February 2026Medium Frequency
Reported
5× across candidate reports
First seen
August 2025
Last reported
February 2026
Reported outcome
mixed

Problem Overview

Design a Place of Interest (POI) service similar to Yelp or Foursquare. The system stores registered places of interest, each with a geographic location (longitude + latitude) and a place type (restaurant, hotel, park, etc.). Users can query the system to find the N nearest places to a given location…

  • 4 candidate-reported follow-ups — the exact probes interviewers asked, with the trigger for each
  • The rest of the problem statement — full requirements, constraints, and edge cases
  • Approach and trade-offs — what passing candidates did, and the mistakes that sink people
Unlock the full OpenAI catalog
Full problem statements, candidate-reported follow-ups, and walkthroughs — for every OpenAI question.
Unlock with Pro
Already a member? Sign in
Verified Source
Every question is reconstructed from multiple independent candidate reports. Verbatim follow-ups, not invented ones.
Codex Fact-Checked
Technical claims, formulas, and scale numbers are reviewed against primary sources.
Interviewer Follow-ups
The exact follow-ups reported by candidates, with the trigger that prompts each one — plus the mistakes that sink people.
Is this helpful?