Recognize data maps

Recognize data maps

When Liu Bei came out to fight the world with his brother, he was defeated. After high guidance, put down the uncle's body section, three Gu Mao Lu please Zhuge Liang out of the mountains. Zhuge Liang took out a map that had already been prepared and mounted it to the wall, pointing to Jiangshan and talking about it. From the North to Jiangdong, from Jingzhou to Yizhou, then to Wan, Luo, and Qinchuan, liu Bei has made a three-pronged plan-the famous LongZhong in history.

Some people say that this is the earliest Strategic Consulting Service, and the 300-plus LongZhong is a strategic consulting report. This is a joke, but it makes no sense. The map hanging on the wall plays an important role, which is a great success. Through its Global View, Zhuge Liang's strategy becomes clear and visible. Malls are like battlefields. In commercial activities, although the game is wrong, it won't make thousands of soldiers disappear, but it can make tens of millions of dollars to pay. Like military maps, maps are also an important tool for strategic and operational decision-making analysis in commercial activities.

In foreign business magazines, we often see some ways to use maps to analyze business and economic data. Figure 1-1 is the most common example. It uses different colors to indicate the data size of an indicator in each region. This book collectively refers to the map that reflects data as a Data Map (datamap ).

 

 

 

 

What is Data Map?

There seems to be no clear definition of what a Data Map is, or even a uniform definition. Especially in the Chinese field, there is almost a blank space, and there are few application cases. According to Wikipedia, there are several map-related terms.

Thematic Map)

A thematic map is a type of map or chart especially designed to showa fig with a specific geographic area. these maps "canportray physical, social, political, cultural, economical, sociological, agricultural, or any other aspects of acity,
State, region, nation, or continent ".

A Topic map is a map or chart specially designed to represent a specific topic associated with a specific geographic region, such maps can depict the natural, social, political, cultural, economic, social, agricultural, or other aspects of a city, region, country, or continent.

Choropleth map (distribution chart)

A choropleth map is a thematic map in which areas are shaded orpatterned inproportion to the measurement of the statistical variable beingdisplayed on the map, such as population density or per-capital income. thechoropleth map provides aneasy way to visualize
How a measurement varies between SSA geographic area or it showsthe level of variability within a region.

A geo chart is a special map that draws shadows or patterns based on the statistical variables (such as population density or per capita income) in each region on the map. A distribution chart provides a simple way to show how a variable changes between regions or within regions.

Heat map)

A heat map is a graphical representation of data where the valuestaken bya variable in a two-dimen1_map are represented as colors. A verysimilarpresentation form is a tree map. the term is also used to mean itsthematic applicationas A choropleth map.

A thermal map is a graphical data representation. On a two-dimensional map, a changing color represents the value size. A similar graph is treemap. A thermal map is also used to represent the distribution chart of a specific topic.

This book is not dedicated to map theory research, but focuses on how to create and use maps in business activities, so you don't have to worry about the definition of data maps. As the name suggests, all types of maps used to reflect and analyze data are called data maps.

Functions of Data Map

In business data analysis, a large amount of data is related to geographical locations, such as sales and profit data of various regions. In this case, if you can use a map to reflect the data, it will undoubtedly be much more intuitive than a simple table, and information communication will be more effective and professional.

Data Map can present business data in a new way that is different from traditional table visualization. Its functions include:

L create a visual view based on geographical location, and y intuitively shows the distribution and trend of analysis indicators in various regions;

L visually tells the story and transmits the viewpoint more effectively;

L discover undiscovered data treasures and discover potential market opportunities;

L improve the professional quality and image of enterprises and individuals and enhance their competitiveness.

This book focuses on Data Map applications in general business environments. As a more specialized application, Data Map is also widely used in the following aspects:

L customer segmentation. Analyze and classify customers in different regions/communities on the map based on demographic data such as age, gender, income level, and education level, study their lifestyle, interests, and shopping habits.

L market capacity forecast. On the map, we analyze the resource input, sales revenue, and product sales of each outlet, predict the capacity of the entire market, and scientifically configure the resources to the region with the largest market potential.

L logistics route planning and supply chain management. It is very natural to plan the logistics path on the map. Reasonable planning can greatly reduce the logistics cost, which is especially important for e-commerce enterprises.

L store site selection analysis. Supermarket chains and restaurants have many spatial factors to consider when choosing a store. It is a good way to use maps for market planning.

 

 

-- This text is excerpted from "speaking with map: Using Excel Data Map in business analysis and demonstration"

Book details: http://blog.csdn.net/broadview2006/article/details/7205817