# Empty states and activation patterns

Source: Lazyweb Research
9 data-backed questions on Empty states and activation patterns.
HTML: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/category/empty-states-and-activation-patterns
Markdown: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/category/empty-states-and-activation-patterns.md

## Questions

- [Which empty-state and activation patterns are most common in mobile apps?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/empty-state-patterns-prevalence-mobile-apps)
  Across 809 tracked apps, the plain empty state ("nothing here yet" / "no items") is the most widespread activation pattern, appearing in 373 apps (46%) [1]. Sample or demo content shows up in 100 app…
- [What percent of apps use a setup checklist after signup?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-percent-of-apps-use-setup-checklist)
  About 13% of tracked apps — 107 of 809 — ship a checklist-tagged activation screen [1]. That is a strict lower bound from tag matching; a broad "get started" matcher inflates to 413 apps (51%), but m…
- [How common is a dedicated cold-start (first-run) screen, and which apps use one?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/cold-start-first-run-screen-prevalence)
  A dedicated cold-start screen category — the purpose-built first-run/empty screen a brand-new user hits — spans 58 canonical screens across 107 apps, from 374 raw screenshots [1]. That makes it the s…
- [Sample content vs social seeding: which empty-state fill pattern is more common?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/sample-content-vs-social-seeding-empty-state)
  Sample or demo content is the more common way to fill an empty product: 100 apps use it (1,331 screenshots) versus 64 apps for social seeding (230 screenshots) [1]. Sample content leads in editor and…
- [What do top apps show a brand-new user on an empty home screen?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-brand-new-users-see-on-empty-home-screen)
  The most common answer is a plain empty state — 373 of 809 apps (46%) label the surface "nothing here yet" rather than pre-filling it [1]. The home surface itself is well-represented: 430 canonical h…
- [How do apps get a new user to their first meaningful action?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/how-apps-drive-first-meaningful-action)
  The evidence points to three main levers: a setup checklist (107 apps, 13%), pre-seeded sample content that gives users something to act on (100 apps), and social seeding that fills a feed (64 apps)…
- [Which app categories are most likely to use a setup checklist?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/setup-checklist-by-app-category)
  Among the 107 apps with a checklist-tagged screen, Health & Fitness leads with 19 apps, followed by News (10) and Productivity (8) [1]. Only these three categories clear N>=8, so per-category rates b…
- [Which app categories invest most in a dedicated cold-start screen?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/cold-start-screens-by-app-category)
  Cold-start screenshots concentrate in Education (23) and Health & Fitness (17) — the only two categories that clear N>=8 [1]. Everything else (Magazines & Newspapers 6, Weather 5, News 5, and lower)…
- [On web/SaaS products, which in-product surfaces host empty states and first-run guidance?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/web-saas-activation-surfaces-empty-states)
  Across 11,753 labeled desktop product screens, the in-product surfaces where empty states and first-run guidance live are, in order: editor (2,119), feed (1,252), dashboard (1,088), and onboarding (9…