Concepedia

Visualizing Business Data with Generalized Treemaps

Roel Vliegen, Jarke J. van Wijk, Erik‐Jan van der Linden

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · 2006 · 108 citations · 14 references

TL;DR

Business data is commonly shown with simple graphics that give an overview but struggle to display large amounts of detail, and while treemaps can provide such detail, they are often hard to interpret. This work aims to adapt standard treemap algorithms so that their outputs resemble familiar business graphics. The adaptation uses level‑specific layout algorithms, multiple squarified variations, variable borders, and non‑rectangular shapes. These techniques produce visualizations that include histograms, pie charts, and a range of other familiar styles.

Abstract

Business data is often presented using simple business graphics. These familiar visualizations are effective for providing overviews, but fall short for the presentation of large amounts of detailed information. Treemaps can provide such detail, but are often not easy to understand. We present how standard treemap algorithms can be adapted such that the results mimic familiar business graphics. Specifically, we present the use of different layout algorithms per level, a number of variations of the squarified algorithm, the use of variable borders, and the use of non-rectangular shapes. The combined use of these leads to histograms, pie charts and a variety of other styles.