What’s a heatmap?
A heatmap is a two-dimensional color depiction of data with distinct values. Use heatmaps to analyze data such as foreclosure rates, CDS spreads, and website traffic.
Understanding Heatmaps
As early as the 19th century, statistical analysis employed heatmaps, which are valuable in practically every area, including medical, marketing, engineering, and research.
Heatmaps were popular during the 2008 recession, demonstrating their usefulness. Many individuals used heatmaps to rapidly compare foreclosure rates in different states to previous months to determine if they were growing, declining, or stable.
Heatmaps give a quick and complete summary of a topic. Heatmaps are straightforward data visualization tools that don’t require interpretation or study, like charts or tables.
Consumers can also utilize heatmaps more easily. Because they are more visually appealing than standard data formats, they help users unfamiliar with vast volumes of data.
Example Heatmap
Different sectors and scenarios can use heatmaps. To better understand the market and identify trends, a heatmap of foreclosure data can show high foreclosure rates in dark colors and low foreclosure rates in lighter colors.
A heatmap usually has a color-gradient caption to explain the data. Website businesses utilize heatmaps to illustrate user clicks. Use heatmaps to view US foreclosures easily.
Special Considerations
Heatmaps can be deceptive since they employ a lot of data and may not include enough information to make an appropriate trend assumption. Heatmaps can indicate that particular occurrences transpired, but they cannot explain why, what causes were involved, or the future prognosis.
Heatmaps are typically created before all the data on a topic is public to provide viewers with early insights, so read them with that in mind.
Conclusion
- A heatmap is a two-dimensional plot that uses colors to show variables.
- Heatmaps enable viewers to visualize statistical or data-driven information quickly.
- Disadvantages of heatmaps include selective information and the use of preliminary data.
- Website user engagement is a typical use of heatmaps.
- Heatmaps became famous following the 2008 recession.
