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Yelp·Data Scientist·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate
Jul 2026

Summary

Interviewed at Yelp, got asked to walk through an experiment I'd run. Pretty standard behavioral-meets-technical question but it caught me a bit flat-footed because I hadn't prepped a clean example.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Walk me through an experiment you designed and conducted.

A/B Testing & ExperimentationProduct Analytics & Metrics
Author's notes

I fumbled the setup a bit.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Choose a single experiment where you owned the design and analysis, and narrate it as a story: business problem, hypothesis, design choices, execution, and results. Emphasize the decisions you made to ensure validity (randomization, power, guardrails) and how you translated findings into product action.

Pro tip: Quantify the business impact (e.g., lift in key metric, revenue, or user retention) and briefly mention a trade-off or limitation you navigated—this shows you think like an owner, not just an analyst.

1. Set the context and hypothesis

Describe the business problem, why it mattered, and the specific, testable hypothesis. Tie it to a clear primary metric and any guardrail metrics.

2. Design the experiment

Explain your choices: unit of randomization, control/treatment, sample size and power calculation, duration, and how you handled potential confounders or network effects.

3. Execute and monitor

Cover implementation details, data quality checks, and how you monitored for SRM, novelty effects, or early stopping rules.

4. Analyze and interpret

Describe the statistical methods used (e.g., t-test, CUPED, sequential testing), how you handled multiple comparisons, and what the results showed.

5. Decide and communicate

Explain the recommendation you made, the business impact, and how you communicated uncertainty and next steps to stakeholders.

Key Points to Mention

  • Clear hypothesis and primary metric tied to business goal
  • Randomization unit and sample size/power calculation
  • Guardrail metrics and validity checks (e.g., SRM, A/A tests)
  • Statistical analysis approach and handling of multiple comparisons
  • Business impact and actionable recommendation
  • Trade-offs, limitations, or lessons learned

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