Writing empty states that help people begin

“Nothing here yet” was technically accurate. It also described a screen that already made its emptiness quite clear. In our project workspace, the first visit needed a better introduction.

Understand why the screen is empty

We listed the situations that could produce an empty state: a new account, a search with no matches, an archived project or a connection that had failed. Those moments needed different explanations and different actions.

For a new account, the useful question was how to begin. For an unsuccessful search, it was how to change the query. Reusing one friendly sentence across both screens made the interface less precise.

Write the action before the headline

I started each draft with what someone could do next. In the new workspace, that was creating a first project. We used a clear button label and one short sentence explaining that a project could hold tasks, notes and files.

A small example can do more work than a long description. Show what the first useful thing could look like.

We added a sample project name and explained that the name could change later. That small reassurance addressed a question we had heard in testing: people were worried about getting the setup wrong.

Keep the tone proportional

A new workspace can feel welcoming. A failed connection needs a calm explanation and a way to retry. We kept the vocabulary consistent with the rest of the product and removed celebrations from moments that were simply routine.

During the next review, we asked participants what they expected the button to do before they clicked it. Their answers told us whether the copy was making the next step clearer.