At-a-glance Visualization & Analysis of Complex, High Volume Information - Using Heat Maps
by LogiXML BIz Comm Editorial Staff
November 6, 2006
Page 3
Example Scenario
Imagine that George, a Sales Manager, needs to review sales performance for all sales representatives in his company. This includes 300 sales people across six geographic areas. A heat map would be able to show this data in one place more legibly than a pie chart or a bar chart.
Jane, the report developer would build the heat map for George in a matter of hours. In the heat map, she would specify that the size of each region indicates total sales for the current quarter. The color green would indicate sales above quota, and red would indicate those below quota.
When viewing the heat map in his browser, George will be able to see high and low performing sales representatives in each region right away. He can also immediately deduce which regions are doing well and which are not. And, when he mouses over any region or group heading, a pop-up will appear to show the details (actual sales person with numbers) of that region.
George then uses a slider control to filter the data and view only the highest performing sales representatives. A Total Sales slider shows only high sales numbers and a % of Quota slider shows only those representatives above 100%. Conversely, George can use the sliders to view only sales representatives who are below quota.
This information opens the door for George to take immediate action such as setting up discussions with the appropriate regional managers to determine how to improve sales for the next quarter.
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