The public homepage had no obvious way back into the product.
The site had been designed primarily to explain the product and invite new people in. Existing users had a different task. They already knew what Goodword was and needed a visible route back to the application.
The quickest option was to replace an existing navigation item. That would put login into the current layout without rebuilding the header. It would also remove another destination and might not give the link enough visual weight.
The more complete option was to revise the navigation. Login could have its own position and treatment beside the action for a new visitor. That required design and implementation work but created a clearer distinction between entering an existing account and starting a new one.
The discussion exposed a simple gap. A product can have a working authentication page while the public site still makes that page hard to find.
We checked the homepage at ordinary desktop and mobile widths. A link that fit in the full navigation could disappear into a collapsed menu on a phone. The destination also needed to return a signed-in person to the application instead of asking them to begin the marketing flow again.
The private source contains internal design discussion and release timing. No account information or usage figures are included here.
The public-safe event is the navigation decision. Goodword was no longer serving only prospective users arriving for the first time. The homepage needed a stable entrance for people who already had access.
The team identified the immediate change and the larger navigation revision behind it. The login link could be added quickly, then given a permanent place when the header was rebuilt.
The request was small enough to fit in one message: put login on the homepage where a returning person could see it.