Nevron Logo

Scales, Axes, and Walls

Heat Map Chart

Heat Map Chart Series is a chart that uses color coding to represent data values in a matrix. The Heat Map Chart Series is widely used in various industries, including geography, material sciences, semiconductor design, finance, healthcare, and marketing, to help analysts make data-driven decisions. The chart provides a simple yet effective way of representing complex data sets in a visually appealing format.
Heat maps are created by assigning different colors to different data points based on their values. This is controlled from a Palette object attached to the Heat Map series. This makes it easy for users to identify patterns and trends within the data and outliers and anomalies.

Sample Table Format

MonthNew YorkLos AngelesMiamiChicago
January 32F 65F 70F 20F
February 30F 68F 72F 23F
March 40F 70F 75F 32F
... ... ... ... ...

This table shows the average temperature in Fahrenheit for different cities across different months of the year. The table can be used to create a Heat Map Chart to visually represent the temperature data more intuitively.

Best Practices for Using Heat Map Charts

  • Choose the right data: Heat map charts work best with large datasets with a clear structure. Be sure to choose data that can be quickly sorted and displayed in a grid-like format.
  • Use a palette scheme that makes sense: Color is a critical element of heat map charts so using the appropriate palette is critical. For example, if displaying a temperature you should use warmer colors for higher values and colder colors for lower values. This will make the chart more intuitive to the user.
  • Label your axes and legend: Clearly label your heat map chart's x and y axes so that viewers can easily understand the data. Also, provide a code that explains the color scale.
  • Use heat maps to identify patterns: Heat map charts are especially useful for identifying patterns in data, such as hotspots or clusters.