I argue that every time it‘s better to communicate clearly than trying to be cute. This has nothing to do with being boring or entertaining. Clear communication is the bare minimum asked of web designers, or any kind of designer for that matter. The fact that web designers don’t have a proper design education makes them easy prey for marketeers’ wishful thinking and corporate drone factories.

This looks like a perfect example of a marketing mindset superseding a design mindset. The lesson to be learned here is: never put the desires of a marketing team over the needs of the users.

Also note that changing the wording to “Menu” wasn’t an improvement: it was just a return to normality. It was the decision to call it ‘Explore’ in the first place that cost you all those aggravated users.