Progressive Disclosure

The concept was introduced to human-computer interaction by Jakob Nielsen in the early 1980s as a pattern for managing complexity in interfaces. Nielsen argued that applications should present only what a user needs for the current task, with advanced options available on demand — reducing errors and cognitive overload for novice users while preserving access for experts. The principle drew on George Miller's 1956 finding on the limits of working memory, and became a cornerstone of usability methodology and software interface design.