How to Create Treemaps and Hierarchy Charts in PowerPoint

Treemaps and hierarchy charts visualize nested, part-to-whole data in ways that pie charts and bar charts cannot. They show both the composition and the structure of complex datasets.

Treemaps

What They Show

A treemap divides a rectangle into smaller rectangles, each representing a data point. The area of each rectangle is proportional to its value. Rectangles can be nested to show hierarchy — a region contains countries, which contain cities.

When to Use Treemaps

• Portfolio composition — Market cap breakdown by sector and company
• Budget visualization — Spending by department and subcategory
• Disk usage or resource allocation — Where space or money is going
• Content analysis — Topic distribution across a large dataset
• Any part-to-whole with 10+ categories — Where pie charts fail

Designing Effective Treemaps

Color strategies:

• By category: Each top-level group gets a distinct color; nested items use lighter shades
• By metric: A gradient (green to red) encoding performance, growth, or risk
• Single color with intensity: Darker rectangles = larger values

Labels:

• Label only the rectangles large enough to contain readable text
• For small rectangles, use a tooltip or legend
• Include both the category name and the value or percentage

Nesting:

• Use borders or gaps between groups to show hierarchy
• Keep nesting to 2–3 levels maximum — deeper nesting becomes unreadable
• Top-level groups should be clearly distinguished by color or border weight

Treemap Best Practices

1. Sort rectangles by size within each group — largest in the top-left corner
2. Don't include too many items. 30–50 rectangles is the practical limit
3. Use the title to guide interpretation: "IT Spending Dominates Our Budget at 42%"
4. Provide a way to read small rectangles — a table or callout below the chart

Sunburst Charts

Sunburst charts are the radial equivalent of treemaps. Concentric rings show hierarchy, with the innermost ring as the top level and each outer ring as a deeper level.

When sunburst works better than treemap:

• The hierarchy itself is the story (org charts, taxonomy)
• You have exactly 2–3 levels of nesting
• Aesthetic preference for a circular layout

When treemap works better:

• Precise size comparison matters
• You have many items at the same level
• Space efficiency matters (treemaps use all available area)

Organizational Hierarchy Charts

For org charts and reporting structures, neither treemaps nor sunbursts are ideal. Use dedicated hierarchy layouts:

• Top-down tree: CEO at top, reports below, standard for org charts
• Left-to-right tree: Better when node labels are long
• Radial tree: Center node with branches radiating outward. Modern but harder to read for large orgs

Design Tips for Org Charts

• Use consistent box sizes for each level
• Color-code by department, team, or role type
• Limit to 3–4 levels per slide — split larger orgs across multiple slides
• Include headcount or team size as a secondary metric

Common Mistakes

Next: Radar and Spider Charts