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Notion·Data Scientist·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate
Apr 2026

Summary

Notion data scientist interview with a pretty involved SQL/analytics case study built around document collaboration data. Three tasks, two CSVs, and enough edge cases to keep you busy for a while.

Questions Asked (3)

Q1

You have a table of document view events with a collaborator source field. Compute the distribution of how non-creator users arrived at documents, defined on distinct user-document pairs.

Product Analytics & MetricsData Modeling
Author's notes

Straightforward once you realize the dedup step matters.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the schema and definitions: identify the creator, collaborator source field, and how to determine non-creator users. Then write a SQL query that deduplicates to distinct user-document pairs, filters out creators, and groups by source to compute the distribution.

Pro tip: Mention that you would validate the distribution by checking for missing or null source values and consider whether a user-document pair can have multiple sources, deciding on a primary source or counting each source separately based on the business question.

1. Clarify definitions and schema

Confirm what constitutes a 'creator' (e.g., document owner) and how 'collaborator source' is recorded. Ensure you understand the grain of the table and how to identify non-creator users.

2. Deduplicate to distinct user-document pairs

Use a subquery or CTE to select distinct combinations of user_id and document_id, filtering out the creator. This ensures each pair is counted once regardless of multiple views.

3. Handle multiple sources per pair

Decide how to treat pairs with multiple sources: either pick the first source, count each source separately, or use a priority ranking. Document your assumption.

4. Compute distribution

Group by the collaborator source and count the number of distinct user-document pairs. Calculate the percentage of total pairs for each source.

5. Validate and present results

Check for nulls, ensure percentages sum to 100%, and consider segmenting by document type or time period if relevant. Present the distribution clearly.

Key Points to Mention

  • Use DISTINCT or GROUP BY to deduplicate user-document pairs.
  • Filter out the creator using a condition like user_id != creator_id.
  • Handle multiple sources per pair by defining a primary source or counting each source separately.
  • Consider NULL or unknown sources and decide whether to include them.
  • Calculate percentages as count per source divided by total distinct pairs.
  • Validate results by checking that percentages sum to 100% and investigating anomalies.

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

Q2

Given a target user ID, find which other users that person has collaborated with the most, where collaboration means both users appeared on the same document at least once. Return the user(s) with the highest shared document count.

Data ModelingAlgorithms & Data Structures
Author's notes

This one is a self-join and I fumbled the tie-breaking logic initially.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Clarify the schema (documents, users, collaborations) and define collaboration as co-occurrence on a document. Then propose an algorithm: for the target user, find all documents they appear on, collect all other users on those documents, count shared documents per user, and return those with the maximum count. Discuss efficiency and edge cases.

Pro tip: Mention that you would handle ties by returning all users with the max count, and consider scalability by using a hash map for counting and possibly a distributed approach if data is large.

1. Clarify requirements and schema

Ask about the data model: how documents and users are linked, whether there's a collaboration table or if it's derived from document authorship. Confirm that collaboration means appearing on the same document, and that we need the user(s) with the highest shared document count.

2. Outline the algorithm

Describe a two-step process: first, retrieve all documents associated with the target user; second, for each such document, retrieve all other users and increment a counter for each. Finally, find the maximum count and return all users with that count.

3. Discuss implementation details

Explain how to efficiently join tables or traverse relationships. Use a hash map (dictionary) to count shared documents per user. Consider using SQL joins or MapReduce if data is large.

4. Analyze complexity and scalability

State the time complexity: O(D * U) where D is number of documents for target user and U is average users per document. Mention that this is efficient for moderate data, but for large-scale data, consider distributed processing or indexing.

5. Handle edge cases and ties

Address cases: target user has no documents, no collaborators, or multiple users tie for max. Ensure the solution returns all tied users. Also consider if a user appears multiple times on a document (should count once).

Key Points to Mention

  • Definition of collaboration as co-occurrence on a document
  • Use of hash map for counting shared documents
  • Time and space complexity analysis
  • Handling ties by returning all users with max count
  • Scalability considerations for large datasets
  • Edge cases: no documents, no collaborators, duplicate entries

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

Q3

Which country has users who are most likely to collaborate with others? Define a collaborating user as someone who appears on a document alongside at least one other distinct user, then compute a collaboration rate per country.

Product Analytics & MetricsData Modeling
Author's notes

Hardest of the three for me.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the metric definition and data model: a collaborating user is one who appears on a document with at least one other distinct user. Then compute the collaboration rate per country as the number of collaborating users divided by total users in that country, using a window function or self-join to identify multi-user documents.

Pro tip: Mention that you would segment by user tenure or document type to avoid confounding—new users may have fewer collaborations, and shared templates may inflate rates. Also, consider statistical significance before declaring a country 'most likely'.

1. Clarify definitions and assumptions

Confirm what constitutes a 'user' (e.g., active in last 30 days), a 'document' (e.g., page or database), and 'appears on' (e.g., editor, commenter, viewer). Define the numerator (collaborating users) and denominator (all users per country).

2. Identify collaborating users

For each document, find all distinct users. If a document has ≥2 distinct users, flag all those users as collaborators. Use a self-join or window function (e.g., COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) OVER (PARTITION BY document_id)) to efficiently tag users.

3. Aggregate by country

Join the flagged users to a user-country mapping table. Compute the collaboration rate per country as COUNT(DISTINCT collaborating_user_id) / COUNT(DISTINCT user_id). Handle users with missing country data by excluding or imputing.

4. Rank and validate

Sort countries by collaboration rate descending to find the top country. Check for statistical significance (e.g., confidence intervals) and consider minimum user thresholds to avoid small-sample noise.

5. Interpret and caveat

Discuss potential confounders (e.g., team vs. individual usage, cultural factors) and suggest follow-up analyses (e.g., by plan type or document category) to ensure the result is actionable.

Key Points to Mention

  • Define 'collaborating user' precisely: appears on a document with at least one other distinct user.
  • Use SQL window functions or self-joins to identify multi-user documents efficiently.
  • Compute rate as collaborating users / total users per country, not documents per user.
  • Address data quality: missing country, bots, or inactive users.
  • Consider statistical significance and minimum sample size per country.
  • Segment by user tenure, plan type, or document type to avoid confounding.

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