Improve issue empty state to help new users understand with GitLab issues are
Problem to solve
UX research indicates that GitLab specific terminology increases the learning curve for new users from other platforms. The term issue caused confusion for some participants, expecting an issue to be a bug report only.
Other participants were not aware GitLab had plan capabilities. It's especially important to explain GitLab's plan capabilities for new users who may not have any context.
Problem Statement: Some new users are unaware that GitLab includes project management capabilities. The current issues empty state includes secondary options alongside primary actions, and uses terminology that may not be clear to users without prior context.
Outcome: Simplify the project and group Issue empty state to focus on essential actions and use familiar terminology that helps new users immediately understand GitLab's planning features and know what to do next.
Scope: Empty state for new users + when there are zero open issues. More details below
Design Proposal
Links:
Project level (https://gitlab.com/group/project/-/issues)
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Group level (https://gitlab.com/group/-/issues)
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Implementation details
Click to see implementation details
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Adds issue chrome (open, closed…) to groups/projects with no open or closed issues, which allows us to move some of the actions into the overflow menu (detailed below) |
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Moves email issue from empty state into overflow menu |
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Proposal to remove Import from Jira (detailed below) from dropdown |
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Proposal to consolidate all Jira options into a single link that goes to this docs page as MVC. More details below |
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All Jira options are consolidated |
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Import issues removed as it is not the primary action. Import CSV option moved to overflow menu |
Jira - more details
Context In solution validation a Jira integration was the most commonly sought integration.
Problem to solve 
The difference between these is a bit fuzzy and required me to search the docs and use Claude to figure it out. Currently the enable the jira integration links to an overly long help page.
Suggestion
- MVC - link to this docs page
- Better UX - open a drawer or modal that explains the Jira connection options and links directly to the Jira integration setup.