Visualizing Time-Dependent Data in Multivariate Hierarchic Plots - Design and Evaluation of an Economic Application

For successfully competing in a modern economy, large amounts of hierarchic time-dependent data need to be analyzed. As an example, one could consider the geographic composition of inflation in the European Union, or the revenue by product (sub) categories of a firm in the last month. Analysts wish to interpret the structure of the data not only at a single point in time, but examine the changes in the data categories through time. The analysts may need to consider additional dimensions to composition and time, such as the growth rate or profit rate.