Heatmap

Heatmap is a visual report that shows where people interact with a page — clicks, taps, mouse movement, or how far they scroll — using color: warmer areas mean more activity, cooler areas mean less.

Teams use heatmaps in UX research and optimization to spot patterns that analytics numbers alone don’t show: ignored CTAs, dead zones, rage clicks, or content that never gets scrolled into view. Tools like Hotjar and similar products generate them from real sessions (usually anonymized).

A real-life example of a heatmap

Imagine a thermal camera over a store floor. Hot spots show where shoppers linger; empty aisles stay cold. On a website, a heatmap might reveal that everyone clicks a decorative image that isn’t a link, while the real conversion button sits cold on the side.

Heatmaps don’t explain why people behave that way — they show where. Pair them with session recordings, interviews, or an A/B test to confirm changes. See heatmaps in a performance toolkit in Web Wise: Analyze Performance.