Progressive Disclosure

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Progressive Disclosure

The art of progressively exposing complications.

Featured in 68 UX Bites

Similar psychology:

Likely impacts:

Productivity & Efficiency

Attention & Interest

Complexity & Understanding

Habits

Last updated: 26/09/2026

How to utilise this in your designs

You could tuck advanced tasks into a collapsed section of an onboarding checklist, progressively disclosing them while teaching users that sections can collapse.

Dark-mode checklist UI titled "More Stuff" with rounded task cards, left empty check circles and right dot toggles. Orange hand-drawn circle/arrow highlights gray chevron-down button expanding "Advanced Stuff..."

Example from

Stuff

Try progressive disclosure in stages: after users first see ads, explain they're skippable, then only after the second time, offer the option to remove them.

Two white rounded modals on dark teal. Left: "Ads are skippable after 5–15 seconds" with four pale icon squares (chevrons/skip/X/play) and green "Got it" pill. Right: "Play without ads..." + "3 days free, then £6.99/week" and green "Start Free Trial" pill. Grey circular close X on each.

Example from

Impulse

After a user deletes a card and returns to view them all, you could show a tooltip explaining how to restore it, disclosing recovery only when it's relevant.

Revolut app UI shows two cards, an info icon, "All crypto" link, a tooltip "Reactivate your card - You can now reactivate a terminated card in-app," and a black "+ Add new" button.

Example from

Revolut

Rather than front-loading tips, you could teach image refinement once a vague prompt has produced its first result, progressively disclosing the next skill.

Example from

Google

When a user makes a major change to a custom shoe, you could progressively disclose what that change actually means, rather than explaining every option upfront.

Example from

Nike

Possible impacts

Progressive disclosure could increase feature usage, as users may be more likely to try a feature when it's introduced once they have the context to understand it.

As seen in:

Revolut Revolut's progressive onboarding

Google Teaching you in the moment

Revealing features gradually might help users work more productively and efficiently, rather than being slowed down by a dashboard crammed with every option.

As seen in:

Fantastical Stripping out times

Lego Keeping track of your totals

By drip-feeding new capabilities, progressive disclosure could help hold users' attention and interest, giving them something new to discover over time.

As seen in:

Google Teaching you in the moment

Nike The anatomy of a shoe

Progressively exposing complications may improve users' understanding, as they build a foundation of knowledge before tackling more advanced functionality.

As seen in:

Stuff Hiding the advanced onboarding

Google Teaching you in the moment

Progressive disclosure could help users form efficient habits more easily, starting small and adding new steps over time, rather than facing every choice at once.

As seen in:

Tiimo I'm busy right now...

FocusPomo Tilting your rewards

Written by Peter Ramsey

Consultant to 100+ companies

Published: 01/09/2023

How to utilise this in your designs

You could tuck advanced tasks into a collapsed section of an onboarding checklist, progressively disclosing them while teaching users that sections can collapse.

Example from

Stuff

Try progressive disclosure in stages: after users first see ads, explain they're skippable, then only after the second time, offer the option to remove them.

Example from

Impulse

After a user deletes a card and returns to view them all, you could show a tooltip explaining how to restore it, disclosing recovery only when it's relevant.

Example from

Revolut

Rather than front-loading tips, you could teach image refinement once a vague prompt has produced its first result, progressively disclosing the next skill.

Example from

Google

When a user makes a major change to a custom shoe, you could progressively disclose what that change actually means, rather than explaining every option upfront.

Example from

Nike

Possible impacts

Progressive disclosure could increase feature usage, as users may be more likely to try a feature when it's introduced once they have the context to understand it.

As seen in:

Revolut Revolut's progressive onboarding

Google Teaching you in the moment

Revealing features gradually might help users work more productively and efficiently, rather than being slowed down by a dashboard crammed with every option.

As seen in:

Fantastical Stripping out times

Lego Keeping track of your totals

By drip-feeding new capabilities, progressive disclosure could help hold users' attention and interest, giving them something new to discover over time.

As seen in:

Google Teaching you in the moment

Nike The anatomy of a shoe

Progressively exposing complications may improve users' understanding, as they build a foundation of knowledge before tackling more advanced functionality.

As seen in:

Stuff Hiding the advanced onboarding

Google Teaching you in the moment

Progressive disclosure could help users form efficient habits more easily, starting small and adding new steps over time, rather than facing every choice at once.

As seen in:

Tiimo I'm busy right now...

FocusPomo Tilting your rewards