Empty State Examples That Actually Drive SaaS Activation

An empty state is what a user sees when a screen has no data yet: a blank dashboard, a project list with nothing in it, a report waiting for its first data source. For new users, empty states are everywhere, and they shape the first impression of the product more than most teams realize. The empty state design examples for SaaS below show how to turn those blank screens into the most direct path to a user's first meaningful action.

Many products treat empty states as an afterthought. A designer mocks up the screen full of realistic data, the team builds it, and the version a new user actually sees ends up as a gray "No data" message or an empty table with column headers and nothing beneath them. That screen is technically correct and practically useless. It tells a new user nothing about what the page is for, why it is empty or what to do next, and it arrives at the moment they are deciding whether the product is worth their time.

What a good empty state does

A strong empty state answers three questions. What is this screen for? Why is it empty? What should I do next? If a user can answer all three within a few seconds of landing on the screen, the empty state is doing its job.

In practice, that usually means a short heading, one or two sentences of explanation, and a clear action button. Sometimes it includes a preview of what the screen will look like once it holds data. The explanation should focus on the outcome the screen provides, not just its function, because the user needs a reason to do the work of filling it.

The patterns below cover the situations most SaaS products face. Most products need several of them in different places, and choosing the right one for each screen matters more than polishing any single one.

Pattern 1: The first-action prompt

The most common pattern explains the screen and offers one action that fills it.

No projects yet. Projects help you organize tasks, files and conversations for each client. [Create your first project]

This works for core objects such as projects, campaigns, reports or documents, where the user's next step is obvious and quick. The explanation does the important work here. "Projects help you organize tasks, files and conversations for each client" tells a new user what a project is in this product, which may not match how other tools use the word. The single button removes any doubt about what to do.

Where this pattern goes wrong is when the first action is not actually simple. If creating a project requires choosing a template, setting permissions and connecting an integration, a button that opens a complicated form can feel like a trap. In those cases, one of the patterns below usually works better.

Pattern 2: The template starter

Templates make the first action easier by removing the blank-page problem.

Start your first report. Choose a template to see your key metrics in minutes. [Revenue overview] [Marketing funnel] [Customer retention] [Start from scratch]

Templates reduce decision fatigue, because users choose from a few concrete options instead of designing from nothing. They also show what good output looks like, which teaches users how the product is meant to be used. A new user who picks "Revenue overview" and sees a working report understands far more about the product than one who stares at an empty report builder.

Keep the number of templates small in the empty state itself. Three or four options plus "start from scratch" is plenty. A gallery of thirty templates recreates the decision problem you were trying to solve. Choose the ones that match your most common use cases, and link to a fuller library elsewhere.

Pattern 3: The integration prompt

When the product's value depends on connected data, the empty state should lead straight to the integration.

Connect your data to see insights. Link your billing tool and we'll build your revenue dashboard automatically. [Connect Stripe] [See other integrations]

This pattern matters because integrations are often where new users stall. Connecting a data source feels risky and technical, and many users will postpone it indefinitely unless the empty state makes the payoff and the effort clear. Naming the specific outcome, a revenue dashboard built automatically, gives them the reason. Reassurance about time and security gives them the confidence. A line such as "Takes about 2 minutes. Read-only access." answers the two concerns most likely to stop someone from clicking.

If your users connect different tools, show the most common one as the primary button and offer the rest as a secondary option. Asking a user to choose from a grid of logos before they even understand what the connection does adds friction at exactly the wrong point.

Pattern 4: The preview

Some screens are hard to understand until they hold data. A blurred or sample version of the populated screen shows the payoff before the user does the work.

Your pipeline will appear here. Once you add deals, you'll see them organized by stage with values and next steps. [Add your first deal] [Import from CSV]

Previews work well for dashboards, pipelines, charts and any screen whose value comes from seeing information arranged in a particular way. The visual does what a sentence cannot: it lets the user imagine their own data in the layout. Make it clear that the preview is illustrative, through blurring, a label or muted colors, so nobody mistakes it for real data. Offering an import option alongside the manual one helps users who already have data elsewhere and would rather not enter it by hand.

Pattern 5: The sample data option

When real setup takes time, such as waiting for an integration to sync or for enough events to accumulate, sample data lets users explore immediately.

Explore with sample data. See how the dashboard works using example data, then connect your own when you're ready. [Load sample data] [Connect my data]

Sample data is especially valuable for analytics and reporting products, where an empty dashboard can stay empty for days. It lets users learn the interface, try filters and understand what the product can tell them before committing to setup.

The important detail is cleanup. Sample data that is hard to remove becomes a problem the moment users connect real data, because it mixes into their reports and erodes trust. Make it obvious that sample data is loaded, keep it clearly labeled throughout the product, and provide a one-click way to clear it.

Pattern 6: The team prompt

For collaborative features, empty states can encourage invites.

Invite your team. Comments and approvals work best when teammates are here. Invite them to collaborate on this project. [Invite teammates]

The timing of this prompt matters. Showing it before a user has created anything asks them to bring colleagues into an empty product, which few people will do. Showing it after they have built something worth sharing, such as a first project or report, gives them a reason to invite others and something for those colleagues to see when they arrive. In many B2B products, accounts with several active users retain better than single-user accounts, so getting this prompt right is often worth the effort.

Pattern 7: Search and filter empty states

Not every empty state happens on day one. When a search or filter returns nothing, the screen is empty for a different reason, and it needs to help users recover.

No results for "invoice template." Try different keywords or browse all templates. [Clear search] [Browse templates]

The goal is to avoid dead ends. A "No results" message with no next step leaves the user to figure out what went wrong. Offering to clear the search, suggesting related terms or linking to a browsable list keeps them moving. If your product has filters, showing which filters are active and offering to reset them solves a surprising share of these cases.

Pattern 8: The completed state

Some empty states mean success: an empty inbox, no open issues, every request reviewed.

All caught up. You've reviewed every pending request. New requests will appear here.

These screens should feel like an accomplishment rather than an error. A short, positive message and a note about what happens next reassure users that nothing is broken. Without that framing, an empty queue can make users wonder whether something failed to load.

Writing empty state copy

Good empty state copy is specific. It explains what the screen does in plain language rather than product jargon. It focuses on benefits, so "See which customers are at risk" works better than "View health scores," because the first tells users why they should care. It offers one primary action, since several equal options dilute focus and slow the decision. The tone can be friendly, but clarity comes first. A clever joke that confuses a new user costs more than it adds. And it stays short: a heading, one or two sentences and a button is usually enough.

Design considerations

Use simple illustrations or product previews that relate to the screen, not generic decoration. Make the primary button prominent enough that it is the obvious next step. Keep layouts consistent across empty states so users learn the pattern once and recognize it everywhere. And check that empty states work on mobile, where a large illustration can push the action button below the fold.

Prioritize the right screens

Few teams can redesign every empty state at once, so start with the screens new users see first. The main dashboard or home screen comes first, because every new user lands there. Next come core object lists, such as projects or reports, where users take their first real action. Integration and data screens follow, since they are common stalling points. Team and collaboration screens come after that. Search, filter and completed states can follow once the onboarding path is in good shape.

Measure the impact

Track how often users click the action on each empty state, how many complete the first action, how activation rates change for new users and how long it takes them to reach first value. The cleanest way to judge a redesign is to compare cohorts of new users who signed up before and after the change, looking at the same activation measures for each. Small changes to a single empty state may not move overall activation much, but improvements across the main onboarding screens often do.

Common mistakes

The usual failures are easy to spot once you look for them: "No data" with no explanation, several competing actions on one screen, vague copy that describes features instead of outcomes, search and error states that were never designed at all, and sample data that users cannot easily remove.

The takeaway

Empty states are small design details, but for new users they can be the difference between understanding the product and giving up on it. Audit the screens a new account sees in its first session, choose the pattern that fits each one, write copy that explains the outcome and offers one clear step, and measure whether activation improves.