What are DAU and MAU, and what can the ratio suggest?
PICTURE THIS: HOW TO EXPLAIN IT
Simple meaning
DAU and MAU count unique active users in a day or calendar month under a defined activity event.
WHY — Business Metrics instead of guessing?
Why interviewers care about Business Metrics:
people who only read docs from people who shipped.
and tied to Data Science work.
Name the idea, why it exists, then one short example.
End with when you use it and one common pitfall.
STEPS — What happens step by step?
Before you speak the answer, walk the interviewer through these steps:
- 1DAU and MAU count
unique active users in a day or calendar month under a defined activity event.
- 2DAU/MAU is sometimes used
as a stickiness ratio, with caveats because month length and heavy users distort it.
- 3Definitions of active must
match across both or the ratio is theater.
- 4Give an example
One tiny concrete case you can say aloud.
- 5Common mistake
What juniors usually get wrong.
- 6Close
When you pick this over the alternative.
EXAMPLE — See it in action
Here's a short line you can speak, broken into clear beats:
Note: Adapt this scaffold to your own project — keep it under 60–90 seconds.
Key takeaway
DAU and MAU count unique active users in a day or calendar month under a defined activity event. DAU/MAU is sometimes used as a stickiness ratio, with caveats because month length and heavy users distort it.