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BlogUI elements

Empty states that teach instead of apologise

An empty screen is the cheapest onboarding you will ever ship. Here is how the products in our library turn "nothing here yet" into a first action.

Reinspro teamAug 7, 20264 min read

Empty states are the most-viewed UI element in the Reinspro catalogue relative to how rarely they get designed on purpose. The good ones do three jobs at once: explain what will live here, show what it will look like, and offer the shortest path to filling it.

Show the shape of the content

Ghosted cards, a faint chart outline, a placeholder list — the saved examples preview the layout that data will occupy. Illustrations are used less than you would expect, and when they appear they are small and secondary to the copy.

One verb, one button

"Create your first project", "Import contacts", "Connect a bank". Each top example has exactly one primary action and its label starts with a verb. Secondary links, when present, open documentation or a sample.

Never say sorry

Copy that apologises ("Oops, nothing here") appears in the wider catalogue but not in the most-saved states. The tone is matter-of-fact and forward-looking.

An empty state is a form with the fields hidden.

Filter the catalogue by UI element → Empty State to compare them side by side.

See these patterns in the libraryEvery example in this article is filterable in the catalogue.
Open the catalogue →

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