Inspired by https://medium.com/@gonzalezreal/ios-cell-registration-reusing-with-swift-protocol-extensions-and-generics-c5ac4fb5b75e#.r5405cevm

NibLoadable.swift

import UIKit

protocol NibLoadable: class {
  typealias Object
  static var nibName: String { get }
  static var nib: UINib { get }
  static var firstObjectFromNib: AnyObject? { get }
}

extension NibLoadable {
  static var nibName: String {
    return NSStringFromClass(self).componentsSeparatedByString(".").last!
  }

  static var nib: UINib {
    return UINib(nibName: nibName, bundle: nil)
  }

  static var firstObjectFromNib: AnyObject? {
    return nib.instantiateWithOwner(nil, options: nil).first
  }
}

// Example

class EmptyStateView: UIView {
  // this is really optional
  static func view() -> EmptyStateView {
    return EmptyStateView.firstObjectFromNib!
  }
}

extension EmptyStateView: NibLoadable {
  typealias Object = EmptyStateView
}

let view = EmptyStateView.view()
// ...