Empty state design examples

An empty state appears when there is nothing to show yet, whether after clearing every task or before adding the first one. Our inbox zero examples pair an illustration with a friendly message, a primary New task button and a secondary action, so you can see how a quiet moment is handled across eight visual styles, light and dark. Every example is an original design that comes with its HTML code and a DESIGN.md of colour, type and spacing tokens, in light and dark. Free to use and adapt.

DeviceAll Web Mobile

StyleAll Minimal Editorial Brutalist Luxury Playful Corporate Retro Monochrome

Theme

16 examples

Web · minimal

Web · editorial

Web · brutalist

Web · luxury

Web · playful

Web · corporate

Web · retro

Web · monochrome

Mobile · minimal

Mobile · editorial

Mobile · brutalist

Mobile · luxury

Mobile · playful

Mobile · corporate

Mobile · retro

Mobile · monochrome

See it in a flow

Sign up and onboarding · First run to first project

Empty state design tips

Say why the screen is empty and what will appear here, so people know the page works and is not broken.
Offer one clear primary action that fills the space, such as creating the first item, and keep any secondary action visibly quieter.
Distinguish first-use, cleared and no-results states, because each needs different copy and a different action.
Keep illustrations small enough that the message and button stay above the fold on mobile.

Questions

What is an empty state in UI design?

An empty state is what a screen shows when it has no content to display, such as a new account with no projects, a cleared inbox or a search with no results. A good one explains the situation and offers the next step, rather than leaving a blank area.

What should empty state copy say?

State plainly what is missing and why, then tell people what they can do about it. For a first use, explain the value of adding something. For cleared lists, a short acknowledgement is enough. For no results, suggest changing the search or filters.

Do empty states need illustrations?

No. Illustrations add warmth and help the state feel intentional, but a clear message and action matter more. If you use one, keep it simple, consistent with your visual style and decorative, with empty alt text so screen readers skip it.

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Building with an AI coding agent? Every screen here is also in the free Made Good Designs MCP server: ask Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT to search_ui_screens (e.g. “billing settings, editorial style”), get_ui_flow for a whole journey, and get_ui_screen_code to pull the HTML and DESIGN.md straight into your project.