The real lesson here is that the company tried to save money by hiring a design agency instead of a UX designer who would have done the research to understand the end user and their needs. Had that been done then the new interface would be just as quick to use but with major improvements. Instead of modernizing they should have asked how to design a product that’s even more useful.

I see this problem all the time when I talk to companies. They hire a big agency expecting big results and the agency rolls out the red carpet and does everything they are asked. Both parties fail. The first question I ask when someone asks me to design something for them is “why?” Most of the time the response is way out of touch with the actual reason why you should ever consider design. A real UX consultant will do 70% research, 30% design if they offer that portion of the service which I do. Please don’t make the mistake of assuming you know what you need. Find a UX designer not a UI designer and listen for the hard questions- who is your customer? What problems are they complaining to you with? What do you think this redesign will do for you? These are just some of the basic questions you’ll be asked. Your consultant will know your customer better than you when they are done before they touch any designs, if they don’t do any of these things then walk away.