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Lyft·Data Scientist·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate
Jun 2026

Summary

Did a machine learning system design round for a DS role at Lyft. One question, focused on churn prediction for riders. Pretty standard for this type of role but there's enough depth in the schema discussion to keep you busy.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Given a provided data schema, how would you design a model to predict whether a passenger will churn in the next few weeks?

System DesignData ModelingProduct Analytics & Metrics
Author's notes

The schema part is what trips people up.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the business context and data schema, then frame the problem as a binary classification task with a clear time window. Outline an end-to-end pipeline from data preparation to model evaluation, emphasizing feature engineering and handling class imbalance.

Pro tip: Define churn precisely with the business team—e.g., no rides in 14 days—and align the prediction window with when interventions can actually be made. Use time-based validation to avoid leakage and ensure the model generalizes to future periods.

1. Clarify Business Objective and Data

Confirm the definition of churn, prediction horizon, and available data fields. Understand how the model will be used to inform intervention strategies.

2. Feature Engineering

Create features from historical ride data, user demographics, and engagement metrics. Consider temporal patterns, frequency, recency, and monetary values.

3. Model Selection and Training

Choose appropriate algorithms (e.g., logistic regression, gradient boosting) and handle class imbalance. Use time-based cross-validation to simulate real-world deployment.

4. Evaluation and Metrics

Select metrics like AUC-ROC, precision-recall, or lift that align with business goals. Evaluate model performance on a holdout set and interpret results.

5. Deployment and Monitoring

Discuss how to integrate the model into production, monitor performance over time, and retrain as needed to maintain accuracy.

Key Points to Mention

  • Define churn precisely and align with business stakeholders
  • Handle class imbalance using techniques like SMOTE or class weights
  • Engineer features such as recency, frequency, monetary value, and ride trends
  • Use time-based validation to prevent data leakage
  • Choose evaluation metrics that reflect business impact, such as precision at top-k or lift
  • Consider model interpretability for actionable insights

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.