diff --git a/design/containerd.md b/design/containerd.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b418971f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/design/containerd.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# containerd
+
+containerd is built to be a high performance container runtime able to support containers, processes, images, and networking primitives for supporting high level platforms.
+
+Some of the design considerations for containerd are as follows:
+
+* High performance
+* Light on resources
+* Expose internal metrics
+* Comprised of multiple loosely coupled components   
+* Able to be upgraded without impact to running containers
+* Restore from crashes
+
+
+## Design 
+
+Below is the high level design of the daemon and its components:
+