No, the point was to demonstrate how you’d design a complex system.
replyIf a valid answer was “just use Postgres” then it just wasn’t a very good interview question.
In real life, the answer almost certainly would be “just use Postgres” and everyone would be happy.
No, it was a perfectly fine question IMHO. it is a broken incentive - it is expected that you design complex systems regardless whether they are useful or not. Try to interview for the role you have to fill, nor for a role you a dreaming you would love to have whenever you're Google2.
replyIf the interview wants you to think about stuff that never happens in your role, I think it is a sign that in your role, you're expected to solve the problems like in the interview.