Empty states
A useful empty state will communicate system status, increase learnability of the system, and deliver direct pathways for key tasks.
At times, users will encounter empty states within an application: containers, screens, or panels for which content does not yet exist or otherwise cannot be displayed. These in-between moments provide opportunities to improve the user experience and consequently amplify business opportunities.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a U.S.–based nonprofit professional organization for project management. Over the years they have acquired many professional development products that provide career growth opportunities for their membership. The acquisition of these products meant that there was a scattered product ecosystem. Products spanned multiple platforms that delivered a siloed experiences for their members.
The empty state was no exception. While a larger design system unification effort was underway, I uncovered an opportunity to improve the empty state pattern across products.
As a learning resource the current solution lacks basic functionality that enables learning and application of its content. Adding highlights, taking notes, and bookmarking features are non-existent. Users digest and absorb in different ways, the ability to customize, curate, and personalize is lacking today.
Users are seeking unauthorized digital copies, creating a market for pirated content. Customers experience a long, unnecessary and outdated password security process. Download ability is fragile, hindering the access users are entitled to and does not support seamless cross-device access.
The current solution does not support easy access and distribution for our B2B customers, a giant missed opportunity. Finally, the current experience is not ADA, WCAG or Section 508* compliant.
PMI’s intellectual property spans content types, from books and magazines to videos and podcasts, their content is siloed across products and teams creating a disjointed user experience.
Because our customers had diverse needs—changing from industry to industry—we had to focus on building a flexible solution instead of an optimized solution.
When focusing on an adaptive solution, we ran the risk of overwhelming users. We approached the solution space with a strong principle of sensible defaults: deliver the insights we can up front but allow the user to deviate on their terms when necessary.
90% of the time leveraging consistent patterns will help in your product’s overall understandability. However, an inconsistent/novel experience is sometimes warranted if for interactions that are highly specialized.
Identify existing experience and unify the pattern to apply across products.
Identify existing experience and unify the pattern to apply across products.
It’s easy to overlook empty states (or empty screens) in UX design because they occur infrequently and aren’t always well understood. However, the benefits to their inclusion are understated because they enhance the user experience and help create a more cohesive product experience for our users.
