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What are the advanced features of Tally 6.3?

What's the term for a UI design pattern where you progressively educate the user about advanced features the more they use a web service?

  • E.g., Gmail is fairly simple--point and click to use basic, crucial email features. But as you use it you learn about other things that are more hidden away (or require some amount of exploration/drill down) such as keyboard shortcuts, popping out windows, drag and drop attachments, labels, etc.

  • Answer:

    I actually don't think of this type of interaction as "progressive disclosure" -- I prefer the suggestion of "gradual engagement."  It's a more precise term for what the OP is referring to. I use "progressive disclosure" for the types of UI changes that happen in a shorter timescale:  as a user makes choices and performs actions, additional content or interaction paths open up in response, more or less in real time. (See the "Responsive Enabling" and "Responsive Disclosure" patterns for two examples.)  It doesn't really have anything to do with the amount of time that the user has spent with the interface, nor their skill level.

Jenifer Tidwell at Quora Visit the source

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Progressive Disclosure. See http://bit.ly/3kayBi

Nick Finck

I also use the term functional layering.

Shane Morris

When microft was releasing design principles for MS money they called it "Progressive Disclosure".

Dave Malouf

Stephen Anderson has used the term "adaptive interfaces" for this kind of thing: http://www.slideshare.net/stephenpa/the-conversation-gets-interesting-creating-the-adaptive-interface The scope of the term as he uses it is broader than what this question is asking (whereby the interface changes based on your behavior in an attempt to become better suited to your needs). But it certainly includes things like prominent help links for first time users that gradually become less prominent with use.

Martin Polley

If the context of the education is primarily around the user's skill development, I would go with "scaffolding". If the focus is on the app and its revelation of more nuanced functionality, I would go with Jennifer Tidwell's "gradual engagement".

Charlie Park

Mark Reeder

Developmental Cognitive Psychologists refer to this as "scaffolding"  (e.g. when it occurs between adult and child). I've not heard the term used in UX before.

Harry Brignull

I've used the term Progressive Reveal to get the concept past clients and peers before.

Sean Scott

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