Designing Pulse Map: what we cut, what we kept
Three rejected designs, one survived. Why the heatmap version failed, and how we landed on the linear canvas.
The Pulse Map went through three full design iterations before we shipped what's on the site today. Sharing the rejected versions because they teach more about visualization design than the final answer.
Iteration 1 — The heatmap
Beautiful at first glance. Useless on second. Heatmaps work for spatial data. Match minutes are sequential, not spatial.
Iteration 2 — The polar chart
Wrapped 90 minutes around a circle, like a clock face. Looked stunning. People couldn't tell which way around to read it.
Iteration 3 — Linear canvas (shipped)
Three horizontal layers all sharing x-axis = match minute. Top: cumulative xG. Middle: events. Bottom: momentum waves.
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