Design the empty state first

The empty state is the first thing a new user ever sees — and the first thing designers delete from the spec. A field guide to turning 'nothing here' into the most convincing screen in your product.

Answers How do I make an empty state that doesn't look broken?an empty state is a first impression with the content missing, which the trio takes seriously.

Beginner1 min read (computed · recorded 9)updated 2026-09-08uxempty statescopywritingonboardingpatterns

Why empty is a feature

A blank inbox, an empty dashboard, a fresh account — these are the only moments a product has the user's full attention with zero distraction. Products that fill that moment with a grey box and 'No items yet' are burning their best onboarding surface.

The empty state has one job: make the next action obvious and make the user feel the product is already working. Two sentences of copy can do both.

Copy that sells the next click →

The anatomy of a good one

One concrete verb in the headline — 'Set your first goal', not 'No goals yet'.
A next step that takes under a minute and has a visible reward ('Add a link — your first board appears here').
A secondary escape hatch ('or import from Notion') for the user who isn't ready.
The illustration (if any) must depict the filled state — show the destination, not the void.

The pattern, in copy

empty-state-copy.md

Before                      After
--------                    -----
No projects yet             Your first project
                            takes 40 seconds

Try creating one            Create 'Q3 launch'
                            — your board appears here

                            or import from Jira →

A hero that does the same job for landing pages →

The audit trick

Screenshot every empty state

Open a fresh account in your own product and screenshot every screen that has no data. If any of them shows the word 'no' or 'empty' instead of a verb, that screen is your onboarding leak. Fix copy before you touch the chart.