Response:

Hello! This #WebTortoise post was written 2012-JUL-12 at 11:56 AM ET.

==> Use color to add value to your Performance charts.

In this Heat Map example, web site’s Performance data is overlay with color, where red means “slowest” and green means “fastest” (with various color grades in between). I added this Heat Map example because the chart data was difficult to “crunch”, to analyze for patterns; adding color made this easier. Download the Excel sheet here. Otherwise, see the below “Before” and “After”.

Before: Raw Chart Data:

After: Heat Map:

Side by Side:

The chart data is the arithmetic mean average of six weeks’ worth of web site response time measurements (in milliseconds), broken down by Day of Week and by Hour of Day. I then used Excel’s built-in /Conditional Formatting/Color Scales/Red – Yellow – Green Color Scale/.

Document Complete / OnLoad:

_The following is optional reading material._

Here are some potential fact statements we get from looking at this Heat Map:

01. The weekends are the “fastest”.

02. The weekdays are the “slowest”.

03. Response Time slows starting at around 07:00 AM PT and Response Time speeds starting at around 07:00 PM PT.

04. The “slowest” (i.e. the most red) “Day of Week”/”Hour of Day” combination is Wednesday at 05:00 PM PT.

05. The “fastest” (i.e. the most green) “Day of Week”/”Hour of Day” combination is Wednesday at 02:00 AM PT.

06. Interestingly enough, the “fastest” and “slowest” “Day of Week”/”Hour of Day” combination was on a Wednesday.

07. Friday afternoons were “faster” when compared to other weekday afternoons (insert comment here RE: folks getting ready for the weekend!).

Download the Excel file here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9n5Sarv4oonMEdtOTlvOHNib0E

#CatchpointUser #KeynoteUser #GomezUser #HeatMap #ExcelConditionalFormatting