Microsoft Excel: Create A “Heat Map” in Excel Using Conditional Formatting

Microsoft Excel: Create A “Heat Map” in Excel Using Conditional Formatting

It?s Easier Than You Think?And It?s Compelling!

Image for postDow Jones Index ? Heat Map of Standard Deviation on Performance

Overview

I?m working on a data analytics presentation using a dataset of the Dow Jones Index DAILY performance (this is a hot topic lately, so might as well grab the data for analysis?).

The common ?process? for data analytics that I frequently see is ?ELTR?, which stands for:

  • Extract
  • Transform
  • Load
  • Report

This post will focus on a simple ?heat map? REPORT. Note that all the work of Extract, Transform and Load has been done before this. Reporting starts the fun part of data analytics. 🙂

Excel ?heat map? visualizations are popular for certain data sets. The performance of the DOW over a historical time period is one of those data ?fits?. So, let?s explore how that visualization is created ? fortunately Excel makes it pretty straightforward and simple.

What?s the Question?

The question? that this answers is ?What is the volatility of the Dow Index performance over time??

Here is what I calculated / summarized out of the data:

  • Grouping data by decade (1970?s through 2010’s),
  • Using a pivot table, I showed the Standard Deviation (measure of volatility) of the Dow 30 % Change peformance for each month of each decade

It appears like this:

Image for postPivot Table on Dow Index Standard Deviation of % Chang

Let?s Do This

As you can see, it?s not too informative in this format, so I want to format it as a ?heat map? so that outliers stand out with a quick glance of the report.

Apply Conditional formating

  • Highlight the data range and select ?Home ? Conditional Formatting?

Image for postApply Conditional Formatting to Pivot Analysis

  • Select the ?Color Scales? option

Image for postSelect the Color Scales Option

  • I want the format that shows the MOST volatile (highest standard deviation) to be highlighted RED. As you ?hover? over the choice, the table formatting changes. I have the one I want!

Image for postHover over the Options ? Select Desired Format

  • Select that option and here is your report view now.

Image for post

  • Click the drop-down menu that appears, and select the option for ?All cells showing ?StdDev of %Chg? values?.

The report now looks like this:

Image for postConditional Formatting Applied to Pivot Table Analysis

Remove the Numbers ? Meaningless for this Report

Ok, we?re getting there, but there is one more formatting step. The % values are really meaningless as far as this visual is concerned, so let?s remove them.

  • Highlight the range again, right-click the mouse and select format cells

Image for postModify Number Formatting

  • Select ?Custom? format and type ?;;;? (3 semi-colons) into the ?Type? field. This will hide the values from the report.

Image for postChange Custom Formatting to ?;;;? ? this hides values

  • Final report ? no numbers and the report ?tells the story?.

Image for postFinal ?Heat Map? Report

Now, Can I Modify The Report?

How easy is it to modify the report? Easy!

Let?s say I want to look at the report, by YEAR (rather than decade), for the years 2000 forward?

  • Insert a Pivot Table Slicer for ?Decade?? ? this allows me to easily select just the decades I want.
  • Add Year as a Pivot Table row field.

Now it looks like this. And the user has the flexibility to quickly get a report on any decade they want.

Image for postRevised Heat Map ? Change by Year / Over Two Decades

Can you apply this approach to any of your reporting? Let me know in the comments!

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