The purpose of this chart
A heat map is a graphical representation of your data where the individual values contained in the graph cells are represented as colors. In ActionableAgile, the Heat Map chart tells you the cumulative number of days spent in each workflow state for the specific attribute you've chosen in the Topic chart control. In other words, it displays where your process has accumulated the most Cycle Time at a given step in your workflow for a given attribute.
How to read the chart
The horizontal axis always represents the workflow stages for your workflow (minus any stages you've filtered out with the Workflow Stages control).
The vertical axis represents the values available for the Topic you've chosen in the Topic chart control.
The number in the cell represents the total number of days all items matching that Topic value have spent in the relevant workflow stage.
The color of the cell tells you where in the range of values that number lands. For instance, in the image to the right, all of the highest numbers are red, slightly lower numbers are orange, then yellow, and so on...
Interact with the cells
Here's how to get more information about the data reflected in any cell:
- Hover over an individual cell to see the attribute, workflow stage, and total time accumulated.
- Click the cell to see all items that have flowed through as well as the amount of time that each spent in that workflow stage.
- You can then click on one of the items on the list to get details about the specific item, including a link to the item in Jira.
Key Chart Controls
Click on any image to make it bigger!
Topic
You can see how long items spend in any workflow state through many different groupings called Topics. The list of Topics matches the boxes in the Item Filter chart control for your data. You have the basic list:
- Type
- Priority
- Fix Versions
- Components
- Assignee
- Reporter
- Resolution
- Labels
- Blocked Days
- Blocked
Then you have any additional custom fields that you choose to add when you import your data. In the example to the right you see:
- Epic Link
- Epic Name
Color Palette
You have a choice of seven (7) color palettes to choose from. Many people use the stoplight color palette called "Green-Yellow-Red" but this isn't usable for many color-blind users who opt for color palettes without green or red such as "Black-Blue".
The colorings are applied to the cells to show a relative relationship between the value of the cells. For any color palette, the highest values will be in cells with the color denoted on the right, the lowest values in cells with the color denoted on the left. So, for instance, in a Green-Yellow-Red palette, the highest values will be in red cells and the lowest in Green. In Black-White, the lowest numbers would be in black cells and the highest in white cells. There are various shades of blends of these colors to fill in some ranges in between.
These calculations for how the exact colors are applied to which number ranges are not published because the heat map is meant to show relationships between the data in the table rather than show colors for pre-defined umber ranges.
Additional Chart Controls
Layout > Show Date Control
This configuration option shows you the past data used and allows you to select a smaller data set. Use your mouse to select a section of the dots on the chart that appears. As you change the selection, you will see the values in the chart's table cells change.
Item Filter
You can filter down the items used for this chart by choosing one or more available fields related to your Jira issues. If you want to clear your filters so that all data is used again, you click the Reset button.
Workflow Stages
Only checked workflow stages will appear as columns in the chart.
For the below, the first column would be Analysis Done. If you were to uncheck Dev Active in the image below, the number for Dev Active would be added to the number from Analysis Done. In this way, the total duration is always represented.
