Over the years, I've noticed that a lot of architectural decisions that I make are based on gut feelings. You know that feeling when you've heard some of the details and angles on a problem, you start to build up this direction in the back of your mind? It's never perfect, but gives you a general feeling of how to approach the problem? Well, I've also learned that these are design heuristics, principles and guidelines that don't always apply, don't guarantee a solution, but are enough to get you going. With almost 24 years of (professional) experience, I'd like to share the design heuristics I use in my day to day job as a software architect. It won't solve all your problems, but give you enough tools to get you going on your next assignment.