I own a 9-speed Ultegra equipped road bike and a 9-speed Ultegra equipped tandem. The road bike has a double chainring, the tandem is a triple. Both bikes use the same shifter that has 4 shift positions. The cable routing and connection to the derailleur for both bikes is identical.
On the double I get 2 shift positions for each chainring. The triple has one position for the granny, 2 positions for the middle ring and 1 position for the big ring.
Both bikes have Flight Deck computers which always indicate the correct chainring so I'm sure derailleurs are set up the way that Shimano intended.