For a fun test, I showed my GF the 2 screenshots.
I tried to avoid involuntary giving any clue, and asked her which one, she was thinking was the old interface and the new one.
She is not a geek, not in tech, and does not know Github.
But, you can bet it, her guess was that the NEW interface was the oldest one, and that the OLD one was the recent rework...
That is an interesting test to rule out the fact that we are "adverse" to changes.
I'm not sure why that rules out the idea that people are averse to design changes. For one thing, it's just one piece of anecdata. For another, just because someone thinks Design A looks newer doesn't mean that they wouldn't prefer to keep using Design B if they were already used to it. Anyway, even if we accept that people are generally averse to changes, that doesn't imply that all criticism of a redesign should be dismissed as aversion to change.
But, you can bet it, her guess was that the NEW interface was the oldest one, and that the OLD one was the recent rework...
That is an interesting test to rule out the fact that we are "adverse" to changes.