lamina-progressive-disclosure

name	lamina-progressive-disclosure
description	Progressive disclosure in contracts — essential vs advanced actions per actor. Use when novices overwhelmed or experts blocked on power features.
metadata	{"lamina":{"id":"progressive-disclosure","problems":["complex interfaces","novice vs expert needs","feature overload on screen"],"related":["lamina-platform-posture","lamina-onboarding","lamina-discoverability"]}}

Progressive Disclosure (agent-native)

Defer advanced operations in screen contracts — primary path stays minimal; power features reachable without blocking first workflow.

Contract encoding

Per surfaces[]:

• primary_actions[] — required for primary actor working set
• secondary_actions[] — advanced, behind expand/settings/more
• disclosure_level: essential | standard | advanced
• Link to platform-posture complexity budget per actor

Checklists

1. Primary actor completes first workflow seeing only essential actions.
2. Advanced ops documented — not omitted from contract entirely.
3. Same operation same label when disclosed (content-design consistency).
4. Expert personas in verify can reach advanced path within N steps.
5. No hiding safety-critical warnings behind disclosure.

Verify checks

• Low-literacy persona: primary workflow without hunting advanced menus.
• Expert persona: power feature reachable; not duplicate/conflicting with primary path.
• Actor walk flags "couldn't find" for contract-promised advanced op → finding.

Anti-patterns

• Everything on one screen — no primary path.
• Power features only via undocumented gesture.
• Disclosure used to hide errors or required permissions.

Related

• Platform Posture
• Onboarding
• Discoverability