Dustin Curtis is a smart guy.  However, he foolishly assumed that redesigns in the corporate space are things that giant companies just able to roll out.  On the contrary and as pointed out in a response to his proposed refresh, the lead UX designer at AA.com does a great job pointing out the insane web of approvals, cost benefit analysis and time sinks associated with being part of a large organization.

I have some experience with this as well.  As a UX designer i’ve been at large corporations with multiple products who even thought their main focus was on digital products, still fell into the same pitfalls described above and in the article.  I’ve also been part of smaller companies and agencies where it was not as difficult to get a crazy idea heard by the product owner or manager.  In the hands of a good experience designer, a crazy idea, when backed by solid logic and a desire to push the envelope, can often inspire change and a new direction at a company of any size.