Onboarding and Progressive Disclosure: Let the First Actions Teach the Next Ones
Technical terms: Onboarding, Tutorialization, Progressive disclosure
Onboarding is the whole route by which a newcomer becomes able and willing to participate. Tutorialization is the deliberate teaching of actions and rules. Progressive disclosure reveals information or complexity when it becomes useful rather than presenting everything at once.
What you can do with it
Teach through successful action whenever possible. Let the first complete experience be real rather than a long rehearsal for later enjoyment.
Ask a player
What did you need before you could begin, and what made sense only after trying?
Nearby ideas
- Gating and unlocking — make possibilities available after conditions.
- Player mental model — understand what the player thinks is happening.
- Player cost — count learning and setup before enjoyment.
- Diminishing returns to effort — deliver large early gains.
Editorial synthesis from interaction design and game onboarding practice. ---