Features
What is a TreeMap?
A TreeMap is a visualization method that allows to visualize
a hierarchical structure (tree) by representing (mapping) the elements with nested rectangles. The method
exploits our innate abilities to effectively process the two visual elements size and color to better
explore the data. The method was invented by the
University of
Maryland. Our implementation, that we developed together with
vasp
datatecture GmbH, additionally uses sliders and a keyword search to interactively filter the data. The
tool works hand in hand with Excel and can be used by an average user in one hour.
Who needs the TreeMap Tool?
The TreeMap Tool is developed for business
professionals, researchers, and home users, that have structured data (e.g., in Excel) and search for a new
and easy way to visualize it with the overall goal to improve explorative or communicative tasks. Target
groups involve: Controllers, Project Managers, Sales and Product Managers, Facility Managers, Asset
Managers, Knowledge and Document Managers, Consultants, and others. Sample scenarios are:
Above we can see a dataset of around 16 Projects of a small company. The
colors give a clue on the status of the projects, the size about the budget of the project.
Second Example: Documents
In the TreeMap above each rectangle represents a Document that is in one
specific directory. The key word search is used (1) to filter the dataset with the term “IT” and
the slider (2) to filter out, document that were written before 1988. The user can choose whether the
filterd values are hidden or change to white.
The TreeMap Tool is not limited to the above situations; further areas are the mapping
of products, stock portfolios, financial assets, facilities, or even experimental ideas such as your I-Pod
data.
