Empty, loading and error screens are where products feel broken — designing them properly.
Design reviews look at the screen with three items in the list, a filled profile and a successful save. Users spend a surprising amount of time in the other states, and those are where a product feels broken.
Empty is an opportunity, not an error
A first-run screen with nothing in it is the moment a user decides whether they understand the product. A blank area with the word none is a dead end. An empty state that explains what goes here and offers the action to create the first one is onboarding disguised as a screen.
Loading should preserve layout
A centred spinner tells the user nothing and causes the page to jump when content arrives. Skeleton placeholders that match the shape of the incoming content feel faster and keep the layout stable, which matters more on slow connections than on the designer's machine.
Errors need a next step
Something went wrong is not a message, it is an apology. Say what failed, whether the user's data was saved, and what they can do now: retry, go back, or contact someone. Include an identifier support can actually look up.
Add empty, loading, error and permission-denied to the definition of done for every screen. It is a small process change that removes a whole category of complaints.
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