Heatmaps | How to Use and Best Practices

Heat-maps

• Generally, 2 dimensions and 1 measure are required.

• 1 dimension goes on X-Axis

• other dimension goes on Y-axis

• The measure goes on the color intensity

Basic Structure

• The chart is used to reveal hotspots and patterns

• Diverging color preferred over continuous

• Measures used are mostly ratio instead of SUM

• Both dimensions are cross-sectional, not hierarchical

Variations

• Calendar Heatmap for daily and weekly pattern

• Long term changes for slowly changing measures like global temperature

• Geographic heatmaps to find geo-clusters

• Layout based heatmaps in sports, webpage analytics, stadium attendance, street-level activities

Best Practices for Heatmap

• A good diverging theme is important that stands out

• Don’t use X-Y dimensions which do not intersect a lot

• Ensure to have enough sample size for each cell to avoid extreme values based on a very small sample

Thanks a lot for reading.

If you enjoyed, please share with page your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please drop a comment below.