Explain instrumental variables with an example
Last updated: June 4, 2026
Quick Overview
Explain instrumental variables in simple terms and provide a concrete example.
Atlassian
June 4, 202641
5
2,553 solved
Explain instrumental variables in simple terms and provide a concrete example.
Atlassian asks this during the Phone Screen to assess your experimentation skills. They want to see how you define success metrics, design controlled experiments, and interpret results with appropriate statistical rigor.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Design a rigorous experiment with proper randomization and sample size calculation
- Define primary and guardrail metrics with clear rationale
- Address novelty effects, network effects, and interference
- Segment results appropriately and identify heterogeneous treatment effects
- Propose follow-up analyses when results are ambiguous
Key Topics to Cover
How to Approach This
- Define success metrics carefully. A good metric is measurable, actionable, and aligned with business goals.
- Run experiments long enough to account for novelty effects and weekly seasonality.
- Use funnel analysis to identify where users drop off for maximum optimization impact.
- Segment results by key dimensions (platform, country, user cohort) to catch hidden patterns.
- Consider network effects and interference between treatment and control groups.
Possible Follow-up Questions
- How would you handle an experiment where the control and treatment groups are different sizes?
- What if you discover a bug in the logging during the experiment?
- How would you handle seasonality in your experiment?
- What if the experiment shows a positive short-term effect but you suspect a negative long-term impact?
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