The Quiet Death of the Major Re-Launch
http://www.uie.com/articles/death_of_relaunch/

Spool, Jared M.
User Interface Engineering
2003

Abstract:

Companies would often hire new outside firms to create and execute these new designs, abandoning the firm that made the previous design. The new firms would try to top the existing design with something dramatically different and attention-grabbing. After all, if you can't notice any change, why did it cost so much?