Routing First Clicks: Marketing Root Versus the /home Task Chooser

A marketing document and a task chooser can share a brand and still have different preconditions. If you route a first-time visitor into a worklist before they understand the product, they have to invent a job. If you keep a returning maker on the brochure, they have to hunt for a starting task inside testimonials and FAQ. This technical note is a routing walkthrough for those two public entry contracts in a product such as WAV AI. I am describing the live pages, not an inferred backend.

Contract A: / is a marketing document

The root page’s visible heading is Free AI Music Generator. The supporting line is a product statement: turn ideas into music instantly; create songs, beats, and tracks with Text to Music AI; no music skills needed. The primary call to action is Start free. Later on the same document you still get brochure-style prompts (Start creating your music, Try Free AI Music Generator Now), not a structured job menu.

The rest of the page is evidence and orientation, in marketing order:

• Sample audio under Hear the Magic (Lo-Fi, EDM, Hip-Hop, Cinematic)
• Four feature blocks under Everything You Need to Make Perfect Audio: AI Music Generator, AI Music Extender, AI Remixer, AI Music Editor
• An audience section, Built for Creators, Brands, and Everyone
• Testimonials under Loved by Creators Worldwide
• Frequently Asked Questions, including free start, style control, uploading audio, commercial use, rights, distribution, and export formats

That is a valid first surface when the visitor still needs to learn what the product is. It is a weak first surface when the visitor already has a job in mind and only needs to choose a tool family.

Huei-Hsin Wang’s Homepage Design: 5 Fundamental Principles (Nielsen Norman Group, 15 March 2024) calls the homepage a site’s “front door,” and says it should stand apart visually from other pages, communicate purpose, and prompt the next action. I am citing that as routing context for keeping a distinct marketing root. It is not a usability audit of this site.

Contract B: /home is a task chooser

The AI Music Generator & Tools page uses the document title Free AI Music Generator & Music Tools, but the heading on the page is the actual contract: What would you like to create today? The Create grouping is already split into Music, Lyrics, and Editor. That is a chooser, not another elevator pitch.

A Recommended tools row then materializes three likely first jobs, each with a one-line description:

• Text to Music — Generate studio-quality tracks from text prompts
• Remix — Remix your audio into completely new styles
• Stem Splitter — Extract vocals, drums, and instruments from audio

The same page also carries a full inventory under AI Creative Suite. Music Tools lists Text to Music and Photo to Music. Lyrics Tools lists Lyric Studio. Editor Tools lists Music Remix, Music Mashup, Music Extend, Music Replace, Stem Splitter, and Music Mastering. The descriptions on those cards are job-shaped (for example, Photo to Music as turning images into musical compositions, Lyric Studio as generating and editing lyrics, Music Mashup as blending multiple tracks).

This hub loaded without a login in a public fetch. Do not model it as a private dashboard or as a synonym for the marketing root. The two pages share a brand and, in the HTML title, even a similar document name. The visible heading and the component tree are what differ.

The GOV.UK Design System’s Start using a service pattern is useful here as a routing analogy, not as a claim that this product is a government service. It says a start point should give just enough information to understand what the service does and whether it will meet the need, and should include a button that links into the service (Start now, Sign in, and similar action labels). The marketing root looks like that start point. The /home page looks like the first screen after you have already decided to go in.

Routing table

A compact build rule: keep the marketing document responsible for “what is this?” and keep the /home chooser responsible for “which job today?” Collapsing them into one page forces either a brochure to act like a router, or a router to act like an ad. The live split already exists; the only implementation detail that matters for a first click is to honor the precondition instead of the tab label.