When you have set up a Workspace for a particular set of patents. This can be used to analyze various different metrics with each other, included in these metrics are any custom fields that you have set up.
To access the Matrix analysis in a Workspace, click on the drop-down menu labeled Analysis and click on the option "Matrix":
Once you have done this you will come to this page:
From here you are able to give a title and description to the chart as well as being able to choose which metrics are used for the x and y-axes and for the pie chart partition field (if you are using this type of chart). Once you are ready, click on "Create Chart". After this, you will see this page which as well as allowing you to view the chart you can also select "My Analysis" where you can see all the different matrix analyses you have done and "Workspace" where you can see your different workspaces:
Pie Chart Analysis
The first type of chart you can use is the pie chart which will show you how many patents are given by the two metrics chosen for the x and y-axes for the chart and for each of these, they will be partitioned within a pie chart corresponding to the third metric.
A good use of this chart is when you have set up a Workspace to establish a workflow (you can see how you would go about doing this here: How Would I Use Custom Fields To Establish A Workflow?). The way you would use Matrix Analysis, in this case, would be to see how a specific metric for the patents has changed over time. You would then use the pie chart option to see which patents have been looked at by a particular team within your company or see which patents require or don't require action.
Heat Map Analysis
The second type of chart you can use is the heat map which will show you how many patents are given by the two metrics chosen for the x and y-axes for the chart where the more patents that lie in each area, the more noticeable the color is for that area.
A good use of this chart is when you are trying to consider how a particular technology field has changed over time. Before you use Matrix Analysis, in this case, you should begin by searching by a particular classification code that corresponds to that technology field and then adding your search results to a workspace. After this, you would create a custom field that refers to a particular metric that has changed over time in the technology field and you would then go through all the patents in this workspace and choose the option for the metric that corresponds to each of these. You would then use the Matrix Analysis to see how the number of patents published by (or in) various different assignees/inventors/authorities is different for each of the different options for the metric.
For both of these different charts, on the left-hand side of the screen, you can view your different analyses using "My Analysis", show the number of patents in each section as well as being able to export and delete the analysis. Also beneath each of the charts is the option to view the chart in tabular form instead.