How do I learn to design systems at scale?

There is a real leap between building the feature in front of you and deciding how all the pieces should fit together, and freezing at that leap does not mean you lack the talent. Building a feature is a bounded problem. Designing at scale is open-ended, with no single right answer, and the freeze is your mind reacting to that openness. It is unfamiliarity, not inability. Design skill grows from studying how things are actually put together. Take systems you already use and pull them apart: why is it split this way, what happens when load grows, where would it break. Read how others designed real systems and notice the recurring patterns. You are building a library of shapes in your head, and soon you will reach for them instead of freezing at the blank page. When you are asked to design, do not try to answer instantly. Ask what has to be true: how much load, what must never fail, what is allowed to be slow. Good design starts with good questions, not fast answers. Sketch a simple version, then ask where it breaks and improve it. You learn this by doing it badly a few times. Start sketching, and the freeze will thaw.