LayoutHow does it guide the eye?
Single-focus layout
One dominant visual takes most of the page, with a narrow rail of context beside it.
Example dashboard
Click a widget to see its data
Air quality by area
Week 37, 2026
Published Monday 10:00Share
Weekly average PM2.5 by area
Northgate7.2
Riverside9.4
Old Port16.8
Hillcrest6.1
Market12.3
Station17.5
Parkside5.4
Docklands15.9
Westfield8.8
Southbank10.1
Eastmoor6.7
Canal11.6
LowHigh (µg/m³)
Areas above the guideline
3 of 12
Down from 5 last week
How to read this
Darker areas had higher weekly averages.
Values come from 48 stations; each has a 95% confidence range in the download.
The data model behind it
Published air quality indicatorsThe main visual is one query across one dimension, dim_area, joined to its geometry. The rail adds a single aggregate and the metadata readers need to trust it.
- Tables read
- 4 of 4
- Joins
- 3
- Fact type
- Published aggregate with confidence intervals
- Grain
- One row per week, area and indicator
- Refresh
- Weekly publication
Widgets
Highlighted: every table this view reads. Pick a widget to isolate its query.
Where it sits in the taxonomy
One element holds most of the space and the attention. It is checked first: whenever one view dominates, everything else on the page is only context.
- Does one visual take most of the page?Yes
- Single-focus layout
At a glance
- Density
- Low
- First look
- The main visual
- Reading order
- Main visual, then the rail
- Put there
- A map, network or main chart; headline and notes in the rail
Not to be confused with
- Z-pattern layout
- Z spreads attention across four corners. Single focus concentrates it in one place.
- Grid layout
- A grid gives every view the same weight. Single focus gives almost all of it to one.
How to recognise it
- One chart or map fills two thirds of the page or more
- Everything else is small and secondary
Use it for
- Maps and geographic stories
- Public dashboards with one message
Avoid it for
- Comparing many metrics side by side