Using heat maps
Use heat maps to show a measure for the intersection of two dimensions, with color-coding to easily differentiate where values fall in the range. Heat maps can also be used to show the count of values for the intersection of the two dimensions.
Each rectangle on a heat map represents the value for the specified measure for the intersection of the selected dimensions. Rectangle color represents where the value falls in the range for the measure, with darker colors indicating higher values and lighter colors indicating lower ones.
Heat maps and pivot tables display data in a similar tabular fashion. Use a heat map if you want to identify trends and outliers, because the use of color makes these easier to spot. Use a pivot table if you want to further analyze data on the visual, for example by changing column sort order or applying aggregate functions across rows or columns.
To create a heat map, choose at least two fields of any data type. Amazon QuickSight populates the rectangle values with the count of the x-axis value for the intersecting y-axis value. Typically, you choose a measure and two dimensions.
For example, the following heat map shows which products are most used by the customers in these countries, measured by a simple count.
Heat maps show up to 50 data points for rows and up to 50 data points for columns. For more information about how Amazon QuickSight handles data that falls outside display limits, see Display limits.
Heat map features
To understand the features supported by heat maps, use the following table.
| Feature | Supported? | Comments | For more information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Changing the legend display | Yes | Legends on visual types in QuickSight | |
| Changing the title display | Yes | Titles and subtitles on visual types in QuickSight in QuickSight | |
| Changing the axis range | Not applicable | Range and scale on visual types in QuickSight | |
| Changing the visual colors | No | Colors in visual types in QuickSight | |
| Focusing on or excluding elements | Yes, with exceptions | You can focus on or exclude a rectangle in a heat map, except when you are using a date field as the rows dimension. In that case, you can only focus on a rectangle, not exclude it. | |
| Sorting | Yes | You can sort by the fields you choose for the columns and the values. | Sorting visual data in Amazon QuickSight |
| Performing field aggregation | Yes | You must apply aggregation to the fields you choose for the value, and can't apply aggregation to the fields you choose for the rows or columns. | Changing field aggregation |
| Adding drill-downs | Yes | You can add drill-down levels to the Rows and Columns field wells. | Adding drill-downs to visual data in Amazon QuickSight |
| Conditional formatting | No | Conditional formatting on visual types in QuickSight |
Creating a heat map
Use the following procedure to create a heat map.
To create a heat map
-
On the analysis page, choose Visualize on the tool bar.
-
Choose Add on the application bar, and then choose Add visual.
-
On the Visual types pane, choose the heat map icon.
-
From the Fields list pane, drag the fields that you want to use to the appropriate field wells. Typically, you want to use dimension or measure fields as indicated by the target field well. If you choose to use a dimension field as a measure, the Count aggregate function is automatically applied to it to create a numeric value.
To create a heat map, drag a dimension to the Rows field well, a dimension to the Columns field well, and a measure to the Values field well.
-
(Optional) Add drill-down layers by dragging one or more additional fields to the Rows or Columns field wells. For more information about adding drill-downs, see Adding drill-downs to visual data in Amazon QuickSight.
