That's because the switching cost is less than the payment of inconvenience. Plus the inconvenience isn't permanent... it fades as people re-achieve workflow parity with the previous design.

Wrong, this redesign is awkward. If it was a good design, then people wouldn't complain about it. However, it really is a step backwards.

This happens with every redesign so no, your assumption that complaints automatically means it's a bad design is wrong. Just wait and see. It won't be long until everyone (including you) have completely forgot about the old design.

> If it was a good design, then people wouldn't complain about it.

In that case, I submit that good design doesn't exist. I've never seen a major redesign that wasn't widely complained about.

So you're going to ignore all criticism when you make a huge redesign?

There are valid complaints about this. I rarely complain about website design, and this time I am compelled to criticize it.

The difference is that it's about a service you use a lot so you automatically get conservative and defensive about the design. This is no different than people joining groups on Facebook "WE DEMAND THE OLD DESIGN BACK" every time they do a redesign.

No. I don't ignore all criticism. I just ignore criticism whose only support is the existence of complaints.