Anti-Patterns

What to avoid, based on what successful systems don't do.

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Visual Anti-Patterns
Microcopy Anti-Patterns
CTA Anti-Patterns
Context Anti-Patterns

Introduction

Anti-patterns are approaches that fewer than 3 of 10 systems use—often for good reason. Each includes frequency data, why it fails, and what to do instead.

Visual Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern 1: Illustrations in Utility Contexts

Frequency: 0 of 43 utility instances

Using custom illustrations in search results, settings, filters, or dashboards.

Context	Illustration Usage
Search results	0 of 14
Settings pages

Empty State Mistakes: What Enterprise Apps Avoid | Northbase

Anti-Patterns

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Visual Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern 1: Illustrations in Utility Contexts

Anti-Patterns

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Visual Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern 1: Illustrations in Utility Contexts

Anti-Pattern 2: Hiding Dashboard Structure

Anti-Pattern 3: Breaking Layout for Empty States

Anti-Pattern 4: Generic Icons That Don't Match Context

Microcopy Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern 5: Encouraging Tone in Search Results

Anti-Pattern 6: Negative Framing

Anti-Pattern 7: Overly Long Body Text

Anti-Pattern 8: Vague CTAs

Anti-Pattern 9: Inconsistent Tone Across Product