Authentication succeeds but the launch ticket fails

A fictional remote-access design uses a Gateway, an identity provider, a resource-enumeration service and a supported launch-ticket validation arrangement. Supplied logs show successful user authentication and an application icon, followed by a failed launch-ticket validation at the next stage. A manager proposes changing the portal theme to repair single sign-on. Another colleague claims the Secure Ticket Authority performs every form of authentication and must therefore prove that the initial identity assertion failed. The exercise is a written review and authorizes no user sign-in or configuration change. The intended outcome is to identify which stages have evidence of success, which dependency requires investigation and why unrelated presentation or password changes could disturb users without addressing the recorded problem.