many factors influence the choice of effective visualisation techniques - lets consider 3 of them
visual affordances - much work on visual perception. 3D is particularly complex. understanding the visual affordances allows us to analyse what kinds of comparisons are possible and guide the design process
objectives - need to ascertain the needs of the user. In user interface terms the goals of the user need to be considered
aesthetics - some representations are more interesting/exciting but do they help with the objectives e.g. 3D graph effect