Heat maps are opinions until someone dates the photo

Heat maps without capture timestamps invite cherry-picking. We insist on dating every aisle frame and logging whether it was pre- or post-merchandiser visit. That single discipline has ended more circular email threads than any new dashboard skin.

We also separate “capture conditions” notes — rainy evenings, school holidays, local festivals — from the visual itself. Those notes belong beside the image, not buried in appendix Z, or teams retrofit stories that fit the picture instead of the calendar.

When metadata is clean, even simple tools feel powerful. When it is messy, expensive computer vision projects inherit garbage assumptions. Start small: one pilot store, one month, ruthless dating. The Insight Reporting Hygiene Clinic initiative exists for teams who want help enforcing that habit without shaming individuals.

If you adopt nothing else, adopt honest dating. Everything else becomes easier to argue about fairly.