The vast majority of users of these newsgroups post on top. If you follow
suit, it will be easier to follow a thread.
I stand by my statement. While there are subsets of users that are
accustomed to multiple axis charts, even these users can be initially
distracted if the axes are not carefully planned and executed. IMO multiple
axes along the left side of a chart is one of the most confusing ways to
accomplish multiple scales. The user has to do a lot of work to correlate
each series to a particular scale. With the data overlapping, the impulse to
treat artifacts as real is hard to resist. Such an artifact would be where a
curve plotted on one scale intersects a second curve plotted on its own
scale.
The advantage of a panel type chart is that it simplifies the scales for
each panel, and it eliminates artifacts. You can still clearly compare in a
panel chart the positions of peaks, plateaus, slope changes, etc., in
different series.
I was trained as a scientist and worked as an engineer for two decades. I've
wrestled with many techniques for displaying information, and I've seen
cleverly designed axis scale mechanisms lead to much more confusion than
elucidation. The few situations that merit multiple scales have been where
opposite scales show alternated units for a given quantity, such as the
Fahrenheit and Celsius example I gave in one of the pages I cited, or where
a subset of data is displayed in a corner of the chart, as an inset, though
with perhaps one of the axes of the inset aligned with the axis of the main
chart.
I realize that you've got a product to sell, and in fact it looks like a
pretty well designed utility. The problem is that it makes it easy for
people to make nice looking but confusing charts.
- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -
http://PeltierTech.com
_______
The capability to addmultipleaxeslooks nice, but it tends to confuse more
than help.
http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/visual_business_intelligence/dual-scaled_axes.pdf
http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/2008/03/25/secondary-axes-in-charts-2/
http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/2008/03/26/secondary-axes-that-work-proportional-scales/
- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, MicrosoftExcelMVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
_______
Or for moreY-axesinExcel, try Multy_Y or EZplot atwww.OfficeExpander.com.
There is a Demo version to try.
Cheers!
More than just looking nice, the ability to have multiple axes is
viewed as essential in some professions, such as engineering.
Multiple Y axes provide more than a "magnitude" comparison, but can
actually aid in solving problems quickly by visual comparison. For
example, comparisons of temperatures, pressures and other (transient)
data can directly isolate issues in engine manufacturing and testing.
This includes stalls, sensor problems etc...
Therefore, it is a bit overstated to declare that multiple axes plots
are confusing when many people view them as not only clear and
accessible, but essential.
