Heatmap in : Encoding · 557
A matrix of intensity — dense, seductive, and easy to lie with a rainbow scale. Heatmap encodes values as colo Heatmap decides what is being compared in under “Encoding.” The figure that must stay on the axis is 1873. Drawing it larger does not create a unit. Look first for a cut axis and a missing key. Build in Excel or Google Sheets, export SVG/PDF rather than a screenshot.
A matrix of intensity — dense, seductive, and easy to lie with a rainbow scale. Heatmap encodes values as color value of a cell in a row-column grid. Toussaint Loua’s 1873 crime tables; later Toussaint/Bertin and 1990s gene arrays. In reports, ads and assignments it fits patterns across two categorical axes at once. Skip it when precise lookup of a number, or a rainbow that is not color-blind safe.
This page gathers anatomy, fit, craft, failure modes and work / ads / school recipes for Heatmap. When the story is: patterns across two categorical axes at once. Skip it in cases like: precise lookup of a number, or a rainbow that is not color-blind safe. Toussaint Loua’s 1873 crime tables; later Toussaint/Bertin and 1990s gene arrays
color value of a cell in a row-column grid Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure. Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present. Excel or Google Sheets or PowerPoint; export SVG/PDF.
Read Heatmap as , “Encoding,” and 1873. A bar with no unit is not those three.1873
Figures to keep
- Year of the chart
- 1873
- Axis figure
- 1873
- Chart
- Heatmap
- How to read it
- Encoding