Unlike the previous poor man’s GIS that uses a “geo-scatterplot” to display data points, this technique do not rely on a more or less creative use of the chart library. You know that you can add shapes to your worksheet, don’t you? So, why not to add shapes that mirror geographic borders (states, counties…)? That’s the rational behind the idea of creating thematic maps (or “choropleth maps”) in Excel. Easier said than done, right? Well, not really…
How do you create a thematic map like the one above for your next presentation if you don’t have a mapping tool? Simple, create it in Excel.