CUMULATIVE CURVE

Use when

• service-level questions: what share clears within N days
• threshold commitments: X% within Y

Do not use when

• non-cumulative frequencies (histogram when built)
• comparing many populations (small multiples)

See instead

• the shape of the spread matters: CH-DST-10

Alternatives

• CH-DST-01 (histogram shows the shape directly, planned)

Rules

• values are cumulative shares; the last value is 100
• cumulative series non-decreasing (validated)
• annotation marks the threshold the title commits to

Never do this

• cumulative curves that end below 100 without saying why
• reading the curve as a trend over time (thresholds are not time)

QA before delivering

• cumulative series non-decreasing
• last value 100 or justified
• annotation at the committed threshold
• source present

Data shape

{
  "title": "83% of shipments clear customs within 10 days",
  "eyebrow": "CLEARANCE TIMES . H1",
  "source": "Source: sample dataset v1, 2026-07-12",
  "unit": "%",
  "x": [
    "2d",
    "4d",
    "6d",
    "8d",
    "10d",
    "14d"
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "name": "Cleared",
      "values": [
        22,
        41,
        58,
        71,
        83,
        100
      ],
      "role": "key"
    }
  ],
  "annotation": {
    "text": "SLA commitment: 10 days",
    "series": "Cleared",
    "index": 4,
    "tx": 500,
    "ty": 330,
    "anchor": "start"
  }
}