Yes, using reduced values is a great way to unlink onself from the details of the reality 
Sometimes it is useful, and a theoretical physisist would happily use eV units for everything (1 kg = 5.61e35 eV , 1 s = 1.52e15 1/eV ). In practice however, there are practical reasons for using practical (and even imperially-unpractical) units. I have a good feeling for what a kN is (disclosure: it is about 1.5 of my weight), and what a ° is (I can draw an angle by hand to a few degrees exact), and data in ° and kN is informative for me on multiple levels. Having values plotted as reduced to some random “100%” takes some crucial information out of the visual representation. Sure, being old school I can multiply 30% by 1.47kN in my head, but do I need that additional mental load? And how should we plot after you shiift the gear of your machine?
Should we take a more realistic example? A common case - you have some process of interest, and there is some changing environmental parameter. E.g. you observe the course of a chemical reaction, measuring some concentration over time, whereas the temperature changes, too. To make sense of what is happening, you need both data, preferably on one single plot, and definitely in units your technician can understand.