Signs it is time to revisit empty states

It comes up on almost every project, usually later than it should. A few signals that empty states is due some attention.

Consistency is the quiet half of design work: it rarely gets complimented, and its absence is noticed immediately. The version that survives contact with a real deadline is the simple one.

The signals

• Nobody can say when it was last reviewed
• The answer depends on who you ask
• The first screen a new user sees is usually empty
• An empty state should teach the next action

The practical version

Blank space with no guidance reads as broken. That sounds obvious written down. It is still the thing most often skipped. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.

In practice

Design decisions are the ones clients feel most confident arguing about, which makes it worth separating taste from evidence early. Three things worth confirming about empty states before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• The first screen a new user sees is usually empty — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

If you want a second opinion on how yours is set up, ask.