Description
Treemaps are used to display hierarchical data. You can drill down in the data, and the theoretical number of levels is almost limitless. You reach the practical limit before you reach the theoretical limit.
When to use it
Use a treemap when space is constrained and you have a large amount of hierarchical data that you need to get an overview of. Treemaps should primarily be used with values that can be aggregated.
Advantages
Treemaps are economical in that they can be used within a limited space and yet display a large number of items simultaneously.
When there is a correlation between color and size in the tree structure, you are able to see patterns that would be difficult to spot in other ways, for example, when a certain color is particularly relevant.
Disadvantages
Treemaps are not good when there is a big difference in the magnitude of the measure values. Nor is a treemap the right choice when mixing absolute and relative values.
Negative values cannot be displayed in treemaps.
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