The empty state I argued with myself about
Two weeks, three drafts, and what the right answer ended up being.
There is a screen in my product that a new user sees before they have any data. I spent two weeks arguing with myself about it. Three drafts. The final version is one line of text and a button.
Draft one: a tour#
I tried a six-step tour explaining what the page would look like once it had data. It tested badly. People closed the tour, then sat looking at the empty page with less context than before.
Draft two: a sample#
I prefilled the page with sample data and a "this is fake" banner. People ignored the banner, interacted with the fake data, and were surprised when their actual data did not match it.
Draft three: a single action#
One line of text — "you haven't added anything yet" — and a button labeled with the next action. No explanation. No tour. No sample.
The button gets pressed. The data appears. The empty state ends.
What I had wrong#
The empty state is not a chance to explain the product. It is a chance to finish the next action. Every word I added was a delay between the user and the thing they came to do.