tl;dr: When I’m logged into a SaaS app, it’s super hard to access the company’s homepage unless I log out. I want every company to do a domain.tld/home shortcut so I can check out their homepage. Do that; it’s an excellent developer experience.
As developers, we often find ourselves constantly switching between different pages of the apps. Whether we’re working on a new feature, fixing a bug, or just testing out a change, it can be a hassle to constantly log in and out of our applications just to see how they appear to our users.
One pain point many developers experience is the inability to easily view their application’s homepage while logged in. This can be frustrating, as it requires an extra step of logging out just to see how the homepage appears to an unauthenticated user.
But what if there was a way to view the homepage — while you’re logged in? I do that all the time with a couple of companies.
By adding a simple shortcut, such as /home that takes users to the application’s homepage regardless of their login status; you can make developers happy.
Build this developer happy path. They’ll thank you for it.
Not only does this save time and frustration for developers, but it also improves the overall developer experience.
But the benefits of the “home” shortcut don’t stop there. It also improves the user experience by providing a quick and easy way for users to return to the homepage, regardless of where they are in the application.
Especially when there’s something fun on your homepage, and you want your users, i.e., developers, to showcase how cool your homepage is.
I do that all the time with
I was advising my good friends Zeno Rocha to do the same, who has just started building his new company, Resend.com — a new Email API for developers, an excellent upcoming developer tools company. And he did. In fact, he said, and I quote, “I was struggling with that too, always had to log out.”
So I figured I should write about it and make it a thing, so developers would have a place to refer others when asking for the /home shortcut.
Peace!
Ahmad Awais
That sounds interesting, thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it. Let’s get deva to ship this in their apps.
This is such a simple yet genius idea! I’ve already started implementing it in my own SaaS app and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier. Thanks for sharing this tip, Ahmad!
As a developer, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to log out of an app just to check its homepage. The /home shortcut is a game-changer, and I hope more companies adopt this approach.
I completely agree with the importance of improving developer experience. Little things like the /home shortcut can make a big difference in productivity and overall satisfaction with a tool.
Wow, I never realized how frustrating it was to not have quick access to the homepage while logged in until now. Thanks for bringing this issue to light and providing a simple solution.
I love how this not only benefits developers, but also improves the user experience for all users of the application. Win-win!
Ahmad, you always provide such valuable insights and tips for developers. Keep up the great work!
The /home shortcut is such a simple yet effective solution. I hope more companies take note and implement it in their own applications.
I’ve been using the /home shortcut on GitHub for a while now, and I can’t imagine going back to having to log out just to see the homepage. Thanks for spreading the word about this helpful feature.
It’s great to see companies like Resend.com already adopting the /home shortcut. This is a great example of how small changes can have a big impact on developer experience.
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