Steal the Show with Interactive Maps
By Takin BaBaei
Everyone who gives presentations wants to display information in a way that is clear and easy to understand. Xcelsius Map Libraries are powerful components that enable any presenter to visualize complex regional data tables in a way that is visually more appealing and easier for the audience to understand. Xcelsius Map Libraries include maps of countries for various geographical areas of the World. Each country is further divided into its appropriate subdivisions (e.g. state, province, county, etc).
Xcelsius Map Libraries enable you to:
- Visualize data values associated with each subdivision.
- Use a subdivision as a selector to call up other components (e.g. charts, gauges and other dashboards) representing data for that area.
- Set country or subdivision alerts if associated data values drop below a designated target.
For example, a typical presentation of XZY Company’s quarterly regional revenue contains a table, displaying rows and columns of data that is hard for the presenter to explain, and even more difficult for the audience to understand (See Figure 1). XcelsiusMap components can turn those rows and columns of data into a simple visual presentation that overcomes this.
You might be wondering, “How can I do this?” Easy. Map components can be combined with other features of Xcelsius, such as Alerts and Drill-Down, to deliver a presentation that will steal the show at your next meeting. Your audience will look at an alert-enabled map integrated into your presentation and instantly see, for example, that the revenue for a particular subdivision is below plan. Also, you can use the Drill-Down option and present data for each subdivision in a concise and clear manner, instead of compressing the data for all the subdivisions into one table.
Still not entirely convinced? Well, which is your audience going to remember better: Texas revenue of actual = $1,547,547 and projected = $2,245,474, or a map of Texas with a red alert? Convinced!
But we all hate doing jobs that we have to re-learn every time. A good strategy is to develop an easy-to-remember process that can be used over and over again. So, let’s use the model in Figure 1 as our example, and see what is involved in getting these helpful Map components into an Xcelsius presentation.
Fig. #1
As it turns out, this is fairly simple and straightforward. To help you develop your process, I will discuss the following steps involved in creating a simple model as in Figure 1:
- Setting up your Spreadsheet for a Map Component
- Setting up your Map Component
- Putting your Map Component to Work
Setting up your Spreadsheet for a Map Component
The first step to integrating Map components into your Xcelsius presentation is to organize the Excel spreadsheet that contains the data you want to use in your model. Xcelsius makes it easy to associate data with each subdivision in the Maps by using Region Codes (e.g. California). Each subdivision in the map has a defined Region Code. When Source Data, Display Data, or Target Data is selected, the Map component looks in either the first column or first row of the range for the defined codes. When the code is found, the data in the matching row or column is then associated with the corresponding region.
You don’t have to worry about getting the Region Codes for every single Map component you would like to use. You can simply copy the Region Codes from the help files in the “C:\Program Files\Infommersion” directory. They are in the “Xcelsius” folder (if you have XL Professional), or the “ Enterprise” folder (if you have Enterprise XE) under “…\samples\User Guide Samples” of your Xcelsius install. Then, just paste them into your Excel spreadsheet. The following is the file you’ll need to use:
- MapRegion.xls – includes the Codes for Africa by country, Asia by country, California by county, Central America by country, Europe by country, South America by country, United States by state, and World by continent.
If you have purchased either of the add-on Map Libraries, you will have two additional help files under the “…samples\User Guide Samples” directory (see above for details):
- AsiaPacificMapsRegions.xls: This is a help file that includes the Region Codes for each map in the Xcelsius Maps Library - Asia-Pacific.
- EuropeMapsRegions.xls : This is a help file that includes the Region Codes for each map in the Maps Library - Europe.
Now that you have the Region Codes and your data, make sure that the Region Codes are in alphabetical order, and that their corresponding data are in a contiguous range of cells in your spreadsheet. When organizing your data in a contiguous range of cells you can choose one of the two methods:
1. Region Codes in one column: have all the Region Codes in one column with data in the corresponding rows.
2. Region Codes in one row: have all the Region Codes in one row and have the data in the corresponding columns.
There is no advantage or disadvantage to either method. It is just a matter of preference. For our example we will have the Region codes in the most left column and with corresponding data to the right of it.
Setting up your Map Component
In your Xcelsius work area, drag and drop the US Map component onto the canvas. Double-Click on it to open its Properties Panel
Define the Region Codes as shown in Figure 2.
Fig. #2
Set your Source Data as shown in Figure 3.
Fig. #3
Set your Insert in as shown in Figure 4.
Fig. #4
Set your Display Data as shown in Figure 5. So, whenever you hover over a subdivision (e.g. California) the corresponding value (e.g. Consolidated Sales for California) is displayed.
Fig. #5
Putting your Map Component to Work
Now, it’s time to make each Map subdivision (e.g. California) display some information when it is clicked on. Drop a Column Chart component onto the Xcelsius canvas. Go to its Properties Panel, and select “X Values” to be cells C31:F31, “Category Axis Label” to be cells C6:F6, and “Title” to be cell A31 (see Figure 6).
Fig. #6
Now, each subdivision will work as a selector. When a subdivision is clicked on, the selector inserts the respective row into the target cell and the column chart changes accordingly.
The final step is to set your Map Component so the subdivisions display alerts depending on business performance in that subdivision. Double click on the Map to open its Properties panel. Check the Enable Alerts check box. Select the Target data as shown in Figure 7.
Fig. #7
You can adjust the threshold points of the alerts and the colors associated with each alert level in the Alert Levels section. Go ahead and simply drag each arrow until you get the values shown in figure 8.
Fig. #8
As a result we have set the alerts with the following limits:
- Red: Actual is 42% or less than the Target
- Yellow: Actual is between 42% and 70% of the Target
- Green: Actual is 70% or greater than the Target
Finishing Touches
- Change the skin to élan.
- Drag and drop a background onto the canvas; right-click and select “send to back”; and finally change its color to blue.
- Add the text labels at the bottom to give it a title.
Now your model is ready to be published. Looking back you are probably thinking, “Yeah, this was easy!” So, next time, when you throw a table with rows of data into you presentation take a minute and remember how in 3 simple steps you can definitely steal the show with Xcelsius interactive maps!