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Streaming event ingestion at Meridian — Presentation Requirements

Source: ../architecture-review.html · Type: Architecture review · Audience: Staff engineers and architecture board · Mode: Live + Q&A · Time: 25 min + 10 Q&A Fictional case. The deck is the current implementation; this file captures the brief, structure, and acceptance.

1. Audience and intent

Staff engineers and the architecture board.

Intent: Approve phase 1 of the streaming migration.

Decision or action: Approve phase 1; fund two engineers and a game day.

Success: The board can state the trade-off and the one-hour rollback.

2. Narrative

Context → requirements → options → trade-offs → recommendation → migration → risks → decision.

Slide sequence

#	Slide	Budget	Purpose / speaker cue
1	Streaming event ingestion at Meridian	1	State the decision first: this is a review, not a survey.
2	Context	2	The freshness requirement is a product constraint, not an engineering preference.
3	Requirements	2	Four constraints.
4	Options	3	Name the options fairly.
5	Trade-offs	3	The trade-off is not freshness versus cost; it is freshness versus on-call maturity.
6	Recommendation	2	One recommendation.
7	Migration	3	The rollback point is P3.
8	Risks	2	Risks are operational.
9	Decision	2	Ask for phase 1 only.
10	Appendix	10	Q&A.

3. Evidence and fact-check

2.4B events/day, six-hour freshness, cost ceiling, 90-day replay. Metrics are fictional; validate against current telemetry and cost data.

Fact-check gate: confirm names, numbers, dates, and comparisons before layout. A precise number without a date and source is a liability.

4. Language and delivery

Technical and precise; define exactly-once and replay; no vendor marketing.

5. Visual and accessibility

Dark blue, cyan accent; one table or diagram per slide; monospace for constraints. Cover uses an engineering review photograph, not a data-center rack.

6. Time and structure

25 minutes plus 10 Q&A. Must-cut: option C detail and vendor comparison; protect trade-offs, migration, risks, and the decision. (total budget: 30 minutes)

Q&A: prepare the ten most likely questions and one honest answer for each. Do not improvise a fact.

7. Verification

• Titles-only read: read the slide titles in order. The argument must hold without the body.
• Timed run: rehearse to a hard stop, record it, and cut from the must-cut list.
• Evidence: every number and comparison has a source, date, and range where relevant.
• Visual: check at presentation size, in grayscale, and in the exported file.
• Accessibility: alt text, reading order, contrast, color-not-alone, reduced motion, captions/transcript.
• Print: one slide per page, notes hidden, no clipped content.
• Check the trade-off table against the requirements; walk the rollback; rehearse the decision ask.

8. Non-goals and open questions

Risks: Straw-man options; ignoring on-call load; no rollback.

Open: Replace fictional metrics; confirm vendor constraints; add the real topology diagram.

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