You can generate heat maps around specific intervals of interest. By analyzing data during a targeted period, you can gain insight into visitor behavior at different time intervals and target content for specific groups.

Before you use heat maps, you must allow sufficient time to elapse to gather a reasonable volume of data. The minimum number of points to be statistically accurate is 10,000 clicks. For frequently visited pages, this minimum is quickly met.

For example, some of the best times to run heat maps are:

• During high traffic periods
• With feature roll outs or marketing initiatives
• Over a weekend
• At specific times during the day

1. In the Snapshot gallery, select a snapshot.
2. Optional: To change the date range for the data that is displayed, select the calendar icon and update the date range.
3. Select the Heat Maps overlay.
4. Specify the device view (desktop, tablet, or phone) that you want to use.
5. Optional: Select the Zoom factor that you want to use.
6. To apply a metric to the heat map, select the metrics icon. Then, choose one of the metrics and click Apply.
7. To apply a threshold value for the metric, select the customize icon. Use the slide bar to select the threshold value and click Apply.

   The threshold setting controls the visualizations that are displayed on the overlay. For example, if you want to suppress a metric with lower-value visualization data from displaying on the overlay, you can increase the threshold for that metric. By increasing the threshold for the metric, you are essentially saying, "show the visualizations for the metric when it exceeds the defined threshold only, otherwise don’t display it".

   Heat map hot spots are rendered relative to the new data that is returned, they do not eliminate data points from a current 0-100% heat map threshold.

8. If there are elements on a page that cover other elements on the page, but you want to view data for element on top only, click the customize icon, select Display top elements only, and click Apply.

   In some cases, a snapshot of a page can include elements that get in the way of one another. For example, a page might include a drop-down menu or a flyout menu that when interacted with, obscures other elements on the page. These top-layer elements have a higher "z-index" than the elements that they obscure. Select the Display top elements only check box if you want the heat map overlay to disregard clicks on those elements that are "hidden beneath" elements with a higher z-index.

   When you select Display top elements only the data from the heat map is limited to the element with a higher z-index. The "z-index" is a CSS property that determines how the element is layered when the browser renders the page.

   Note: If there are multiple z-index elements on a page (for example, if a page has both a drop-down menu and a flyout menu that obscure other elements), the heat map displays data for both of the z-index elements, as long as they don’t overlay each other. If z-index element A obscures z-index element B, the heat map shows all of element A and the bits of element B that are not covered by element A.

   This type of customization can be helpful when you are analyzing pages with modals or other dynamic elements that "pop up" over the main page, such as an extending navigation menu. The Display top elements only feature acts a filter by suppressing the noise that occurs on lower z-indexed elements (things obscured by the menu) to more accurately depict activity on the menu.

9. To see the data summary for a specific area of the page, click the Sub-select icon. Then, use the sub-select box to select the area.

   To view a report of data points for the selected area, click the View report from this data icon in the Data summary window.

   Data points for Avg hover time and Avg hover to click time are expressed in time (rather than count), providing you with insight on areas of the page that correspond to visitor hesitancy. For example, how long (in seconds) did visitors hover over an area on the page before deciding to click or not click in a field.

   Click counts displayed in the sub-select or any where else, represent the total click count for that element and X/Y co-ordinate. So, if a visitor clicked on an element 5 times in a single session, the click count in the heat map is 5.

10. To filter the information by a dimension:
    1. Select the filter icon to see a list of dimensions for the data.
    2. Select a dimension.
    3. Select a dimension value.
    4. Select Filter.

    The dimension and value that you selected are used to filter the data on the overlay. The next time that you select the Filter icon, the dimension that you specified is highlighted and the values that you selected are shown.

11. Optional: Export the overlay
    1. Select Export as > CSV to export the overlay as a CSV file.

       Exporting the overlay in CSV format can make it easier to analyze and manipulate the interaction data for elements, and potentially merge the interaction data with other data points, to gain a deeper understanding of how customers are interacting with the page.

       You can also share the CSV file with users who might not have access to Acoustic Overstat.

    2. Select Export as > PNG to export the overlay as an image.

       After exporting the overlay as a PNG file, you can share it with other users in your organization.

       The exported image includes the current metric(s), date range, and any filters that you selected.