Who this is for: All users
ChangePlan uses colour to show levels of impact, burden, risk and effort in its heatmaps, timelines and scores. Use this page as a key when you read a report or dashboard.
Impact heatmaps
Colour | Meaning |
Red | High impact level |
Orange | Medium impact level |
Green | Low impact level |
How each cell's colour is chosen depends on the rule your organisation uses: the Dominance rule or the Weighted Impact Score. Admins can change the impact weights and colour thresholds in Settings.
A lighter or darker tint of red, orange and green shows how heavily a change will affect each audience group.
Activity burden heatmaps
These are the default bands. Your organisation's thresholds can be changed, and the legend on the report always shows the bands in use.
Colour | Time away from normal work for change activities |
Yellow | Less than 0.5 hours per person per week |
Orange | 0.5 to 1 hour per person per week |
Red | 1 to 2 hours per person per week |
Purple | More than 2 hours per person per week |
Risk heatmaps
Colour | Risk rating |
Green | Low |
Yellow | Low to medium |
Orange | Medium to high |
Red | High |
Change effort assessment
Colour | Change effort the initiative needs |
Green | Low |
Yellow | Low to medium |
Orange | Medium to high |
Red | High |
Timelines
Timeline | Marker | What it shows |
An initiative's timeline | Blue vertical line | Project milestones |
An initiative's timeline | Grey vertical band | Key dates |
Timeline in the left menu (all initiatives) | Red vertical line | Initiative go-lives |
Timeline in the left menu (all initiatives) | Grey vertical band | Key dates |
Success metrics (readiness and adoption levels)
Colour | Score |
Red | Low: 2 or lower |
Orange | Moderate: over 2 and under 3.5 |
Green | High: 3.5 and over |
Related articles
Still stuck?
Email support@changeplan.co with a screenshot of what you see, and we'll help.
Last updated: 21 October 2026