Empty state · First use
Asana’s empty states fill in for tooltips
Asana turns an empty Workflow tab into a setup prompt that asks how tasks will reach the project, instead of pointing at it with tooltips.
Screenshot added to the library in October 2022; its exact capture date wasn’t recorded, and the product may look different today. Write-up reviewed 22 Oct 2026.
Asana has a lot to teach, and a tooltip on every panel would get repetitive. At the time of the screenshot, it used an empty state instead. A new project's Workflow tab reads "Start building your workflow in two minutes" and shows a card asking "How will tasks be added to this project?", with three options (Manually, Form submissions, Task templates) and a Skip button. Choosing Task templates opens the template editor straight away.
Why it works
✅ Less intrusive onboarding: there are no tooltips or modals to dismiss. The guidance sits in space that would otherwise be blank, and users work through it at their own pace.
✅ Good copy: "Start building your workflow in two minutes" doesn't give an order; it proposes something achievable and says how long it takes.
✅ Puts users in charge: the empty state asks a question and lets users pick their own setup, rather than walking them through a fixed sequence of steps.
More on this pattern: onboarding UX patterns and contextual onboarding.
