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FeaturesDepositClearUpdated March 10, 2026

What's New: Guided First Steps on an Empty Dashboard

What's New: Guided First Steps on an Empty Dashboard

Version 0.1.77

The problem we solved

First impressions matter. When a brand-new user finished onboarding and landed on the dashboard for the first time, they were greeted by:

  • A plain green "All caught up!" banner — technically accurate, but not helpful.
  • Five KPI cards all reading 0 — accurate, but silent about what to do next.
  • An onboarding checklist — only visible until dismissed, and easy to miss.

The result: no clear signal about what to do first, and no obvious path to getting the platform working for them.

What's changed

When your Work Queue is empty and your portfolio has no active tenancies, the dashboard now shows a stepped 3-card onboarding panel instead of the plain "All caught up" message.

The three steps

┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐
│  🏠              │  │  📋              │  │  ✅              │
│  Add Properties  │  │ Create Tenancies  │  │  Run Check-In    │
│                  │  │                  │  │                  │
│ Register the     │  │ Link tenants to  │  │ Capture property │
│ properties in    │  │ your properties  │  │ condition at the │
│ your portfolio   │  │                  │  │ start of each    │
│                  │  │                  │  │ tenancy          │
│ [Add a Property] │  │[Create a Tenancy]│  │[Run a Check-In]  │
└──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘

Each card includes:

  • A recognisable icon for quick scanning
  • A short description of what the step involves
  • A CTA button that takes you directly to the relevant workflow

When does this panel appear?

The richer panel is shown only when both of the following are true:

  1. summary.totalActions === 0 — your Work Queue has no pending actions
  2. activeTenancies === 0 — your portfolio has no active tenancies

If you have active tenancies but simply no pending actions (i.e. you've resolved everything), you'll still see the original "All caught up!" card — because that's genuinely what it means for an established portfolio.

Who benefits

User typeBeforeAfter
Brand-new user, empty portfolioGreen banner + zeroed KPIs3-step guided panel
Established user, all actions resolvedGreen bannerGreen banner (unchanged)

Getting started

If you're a new user, the panel will appear automatically on your first login once onboarding is complete. Follow the three steps in order:

  1. Add at least one property — this is the foundation of everything else in the platform.
  2. Create a tenancy — attach a tenant and a tenancy period to your property.
  3. Run a check-in — document the property's condition so you have a clear baseline for any future deposit deduction decisions.

Once you've completed these steps, the KPI cards on the Overview tab will start reflecting real data, and the Work Queue will surface any actions that need your attention.