HANDLING ATTENTION POINTS◆ 183but it will sometimes obscure blocs of data where several indices
are shown together, unless they are very well designed. New
users of 3D charts also may not realize that it is often tricky to
achieve a consistent angle, orientation and appearance across
a succession of 3D charts, making them harder for readers to
interpret. This is also a key reason why journals and book
publishers are less keen on them. By contrast Figure 7.3 uses
a simpler two-dimensional (flat) format, which is much easier
and quicker to design and implement in a consistent fashion.
It is preferred by most journals and academic publishers, and is
straightforward for readers to interpret.
All these differences between Figures 7.2 and 7.3 are generally
applicable to every chart you have to design. The most impor-
tant principles are:
◆ Always have completely informative headings and labelling,
including details of units of measurement. Appropriate
labels and scales must be shown for both horizontal and
vertical axes, and legend labels are needed wherever the
chart includes multiple data series (shown in several lines,
bars or shadings).
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700OrkneyFifeLanarkshireGrampianShetlandForth ValleyWestern IslesDumfries and GallowayGreater GlasgowLothianArgyll and ClydeAyrshire and ArranHighlandTaysideBorderCataract treatment rates per 100,000Upper outliers217229239277282297308317318318332332339503723Upper quartileMedianLower quartileFigure 7.3 How Scotland’s health boards compared in
treating cataracts, 1998–9 financial year