As far as I can tell, the new layout, and the article referenced by FRatSTN seem to confirm this, the whole purpose of the new layout of the departures area of the terminal is to enforce that all passengers take a lengthy and extensive walk through the shops past all the different shelves with particular emphasis on the duty free shop in the hope that passengers might spot an item they can be persuaded to buy. The route is circuitous to slow down those who walk and increase the time passengers spend looking at retail shelves. Those who have been shopping at IKEA will be familiar with this technique.
Fantastic for the person who flies once per year, arrives at a terminal 2 hours before flying and regards airport shopping as a great adventure.
For the person who uses the airport regularly, this is lousy.