North Star Metric for Airbnb | Dataford Interview Questions

Your question is North Star Metric for Airbnb. Take a moment with it on the right.

Talk me through your thinking if you like. When you're confident, submit your answer and I'll grade it like a real screen (7/10 or better passes).

Problem

Analytics case study: how would you define/analyze the North Star Metric for a company like Airbnb?

Asked in the data science interview final loop stage, this was part of a Senior PM final loop. It was framed as a hypothetical case using Airbnb as the example company rather than Zillow itself.

Task

Propose and defend a North Star Metric that reflects guest and host value.
Define its numerator, denominator, time window, and inclusion rules.
Explain how you would validate the metric and decompose changes in it.
Identify leading indicators, guardrails, and risks of optimizing it.

Data Available

Assume access to search, listing, booking, cancellation, review, host, guest, and revenue event logs.

Your question is North Star Metric for Airbnb. Take a moment with it on the right.

Talk me through your thinking if you like. When you're confident, submit your answer and I'll grade it like a real screen (7/10 or better passes).

Analytics case study: how would you define/analyze the North Star Metric for a company like Airbnb?

Asked in the data science interview final loop stage, this was part of a Senior PM final loop. It was framed as a hypothetical case using Airbnb as the example company rather than Zillow itself.

Task

Propose and defend a North Star Metric that reflects guest and host value.
Define its numerator, denominator, time window, and inclusion rules.
Explain how you would validate the metric and decompose changes in it.
Identify leading indicators, guardrails, and risks of optimizing it.

Data Available

Assume access to search, listing, booking, cancellation, review, host, guest, and revenue event logs.