Progressive Disclosure
01 Definition
Progressive Disclosure meaning: Showing only essential options first and revealing more detail as the user needs it.
Progressive disclosure is a technique that presents a small set of core choices upfront and hides advanced or rarely used options behind an extra step, such as a link or expandable section. This reduces clutter and cognitive load while keeping the full functionality available.
Why it matters
How Progressive Disclosure fits the work
Presenting everything at once overwhelms people, so revealing detail in stages helps beginners finish common tasks while still letting advanced users reach less-used features.
In context
The signup form asked only for an email first, then revealed billing and shipping fields once the user chose a paid plan.
Practical note
Hide the right things. Burying frequently needed options behind extra clicks frustrates users, so base what you reveal on real task frequency rather than guesses about importance.