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Design a Lens Recommendation System

Last updated: Apr 2, 2026

Quick Overview

This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of end-to-end machine learning recommendation system design for augmented-reality lenses, covering product goals and success metrics, candidate generation and ranking, training data/labels/features, online serving and feedback loops, cold-start handling, use of weighted logistic regression for differing engagement values, and feature/model platform capabilities. It is commonly asked in ML System Design interviews to assess both conceptual understanding and practical application of production recommender systems, emphasizing scalability, evaluation metrics, data-driven modeling, and engineering trade-offs within the machine learning and recommender systems domain.

  • medium
  • Snapchat
  • ML System Design
  • Machine Learning Engineer

Design a Lens Recommendation System

Company: Snapchat

Role: Machine Learning Engineer

Category: ML System Design

Difficulty: medium

Interview Round: Onsite

Design a recommendation system for augmented-reality lenses in a social camera application. Your design should cover: - Product goals and success metrics - Candidate generation and ranking - Training data, labels, and features - Online serving and feedback loops - Cold start for new lenses and new users - How to use weighted logistic regression when different engagement actions have different value levels - A training interface or platform that lets engineers discover, version, and retrieve features and models consistently

Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of end-to-end machine learning recommendation system design for augmented-reality lenses, covering product goals and success metrics, candidate generation and ranking, training data/labels/features, online serving and feedback loops, cold-start handling, use of weighted logistic regression for differing engagement values, and feature/model platform capabilities. It is commonly asked in ML System Design interviews to assess both conceptual understanding and practical application of production recommender systems, emphasizing scalability, evaluation metrics, data-driven modeling, and engineering trade-offs within the machine learning and recommender systems domain.

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Snapchat logo
Snapchat
Jun 28, 2025, 12:00 AM
Machine Learning Engineer
Onsite
ML System Design
2
0

Design a recommendation system for augmented-reality lenses in a social camera application.

Your design should cover:

  • Product goals and success metrics
  • Candidate generation and ranking
  • Training data, labels, and features
  • Online serving and feedback loops
  • Cold start for new lenses and new users
  • How to use weighted logistic regression when different engagement actions have different value levels
  • A training interface or platform that lets engineers discover, version, and retrieve features and models consistently

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