Drill Down Treemap – How to analyze the value of product categories and subcategories?

Analyzing data generated in an organization can be done in countless ways. But for visualizing data and transposing them in a form that is accessible and easy to understand, we need business intelligence tools. These must provide users all the necessary ways to discover and analyze data regardless of their size or how they are segmented.

Tableau Software allows users to build intuitive data analytics that are easy to navigate and easy to understand. With all the features available in Tableau, users build and view data on multiple levels or subcategories. In this way, the resulting analyzes provide information on several points of interest, measures, or dimensions.

Drill down Treemap chart in Tableau Software

But what is the solution that Tableau Software offers users to build analyzes when they have a data set consisting of several categories and subcategories? One of the most accessible options is to create a Drill Down Treemap chart. This graph is based on a hierarchy of data groups that can be analyzed depending on the category they belong to. Drill Down Treemap allows you to view measures, such as sales or profit, from certain sub-categories of products that correspond to a large category.

Drill Down Treemap chart consists of rectangles of different sizes. Each of these will include other rectangles with information about the subcategories it contains. All these are based on hierarchical relationships established in the analyzed data set. The size of a rectangle or a category is given by the sum of values or measures analyzed in the subcategories it contains.

Users easily navigate the drill down treemap chart. With a single click, they can access and view the contribution and value of some subcategories from the category they belong to. In this way the new graph displays an overview on the most profitable categories and subcategories of products or services.

Below you can find a step by step guide which shows you how to create a Drill Down Treemap chart:

Step 1: Connect to data

→ In Tableau Desktop, connect to Superstore sample data provided by  Tableau.

Step 2: Create the visualization

→ Create a set on the Category field, name it Category Set.

→ Create a new calculated field called Drill to SubCategory with the formula: if [Category Set] then [Sub-Category] else [Category] end.

→ Create a new action: Worksheet -> Actions -> Add Actions -> Change Set Values.

→ Name the action Subcategory Drill and select Sheet 1 at Source Sheets and Run action on: Select.

→ For Target Set will remain the source of Sample – Superstore and we will select Category Set.

→ For the Clearing the selection section we will select Remove all values from set.

→ Drag the Category field to rows.

→ Drag the Drill to SubCategory field to rows.

→ Drag the Profit field to the columns.

→ Navigate to the Show Me tab to the right of the Worksheet.

→ Change the view on treemaps.

By Cosmin Untaru

Download Tableau Software