21 Oct 2008 1507H

Progressive disclosure redux

The other day I came across the improper and proper use of progressive disclosure.

For those not in the know, progressive disclosure (PD) is a technique we use in interface design, partly to mitigate information overload, to signal that a secondary action is possible, and if selected, information will be solicited from the user. So within that sentence we can already take away a few things:

- the primary use of PD is not a space-saving measure to cram more stuff into less space but to reduce information overload;

- PD is first and foremost a signal that an action is possible, for which more info will be collected, but that the action is either secondary or optional, and not primary.

- very important or required information should not be tucked away as secondary information using progressive disclosure;

- It should be clear to the user that an optional action is possible and allow them to discover the action and information without commitment or throwing an error.

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Filed under Information Design, Interaction Design, User Experience, Web

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