desendre

Desendre is a term used in information visualization and user interface design to describe a layered, top-down approach for presenting complex data. As a verb, to desendre means to arrange a dataset into a sequence of progressively detailed views; as a noun, a desendre is such a sequence or view.

The term is a neologism that emerged in online discussions about UI patterns in the 2010s and has been used to contrast with flat, all-at-once presentations. It is related to, but distinct from, traditional drill-down and progressive disclosure techniques.

In practice, desendre involves creating a series of views that start with high-level categories and reveal more detail in subsequent layers. Key steps include identifying the primary dimensions, designing each layer to preserve context, and providing stable navigation so users can trace changes between layers. Designers aim to minimize cognitive load by presenting only the most relevant detail at each step while keeping cross-layer references available.

Desendre is commonly applied in dashboards, knowledge graphs, and information portals where data complexity would overwhelm a single view. For example, a corporate dashboard might start with overall performance, then drill into departments, then individual teams. In a knowledge graph, a desendre sequence may show broad relationships first and gradually reveal node-level connections.

Advantages include improved readability and scalable exploration; limitations include potential oversimplification of cross-links and a need for consistent navigation. See also progressive disclosure, drill-down, and information visualization.