Better Onboarding: The Analytics Dashboard Now Coaches New Users

Version 0.1.272 · UI/UX · Content

The problem we saw

First impressions matter. For a new organisation logging in for the first time, the Analytics dashboard presented six KPI cards all reading —, a row of charts each labelled "No data yet", and an empty table. Nothing was broken — there genuinely was no data — but the screen gave no indication of that. It just looked empty and unexplained.

Users had no way to know:

Why the dashboard was blank
What actions would cause it to populate
When they could expect to see real numbers

The KPI tooltips explained what each metric means, but not how to produce the underlying events. That gap left new users without a clear next step.

What we changed

The dashboard now detects when an organisation has zero completed deposit releases and responds differently.

Instead of: a confusing grid of empty visualisations.

You now see: a focused empty state that explains exactly where you are and what to do next.

The zero-state includes:

A plain-language explanation

Your analytics will populate once you complete your first deposit release.

A preview of what's coming — illustrated cards showing the six KPI categories and chart types you'll have access to once data exists. You know what you're working towards.

Three direct CTAs that map to the actions which drive metrics:

Add Properties — the starting point for every tenancy
Create Tenancy — attach tenants and deposit details
Start Deposit Release — the action that generates all analytics data

The empty charts are hidden until there is data to show. No more grids of —.

The principle behind it

An empty state is not an error — it's a moment of opportunity. A new user who sees a blank screen without guidance is likely to feel confused or lose confidence in the product. A new user who sees a blank screen with a clear explanation and immediate next steps is a user who knows exactly what to do.

This change applies the same principle we use across the deposit release workflow itself: every step should tell you where you are, what's expected of you, and what happens next. The analytics dashboard now does the same.

Who this affects

This change only affects organisations with zero completed deposit releases. Once your first release is complete the dashboard renders its full view — KPI cards, trend charts, and the Problem Properties table — exactly as before.

If you're an existing organisation with data already in the system, you will not see any change.

Released in v0.1.272 · File changed: src/app/dashboard/analytics/analytics-dashboard.tsx