In any slow burn, not every step is gonna be a banger, unless the author is just that good. Clearly Fujino doesn't have every part of the story already written if he's willing to change course in under a month from a poll's result. I imagine he has most of the Inoda/Asuna route mapped out in a general sense, cuz he's already told us there'll be 2 endings, one being Kirito is unaware and the other he knows. But he's taking a detour cuz he thought that's what the poll results wanted him to.
This is gonna be a terrible analogy but gonna do it anyways. It's like being on a roadtrip and the driver asks "Hey, are you hungry?" and you respond "I could grab a bite". You're thinking maybe a gas station or fast food joint, so yall can get the food real quick but then be back on the road so yall can get to your destination. Then the driver pulls into a family restuarant. While it technically fits, it's not at all what you were thinking. The food could be good or not, but just cuz you know it's gonna delay your trip quite a bit, it makes you grumpy. And cuz you were super excited to get there, makes you wish the driver hadn't asked the question.
This is kinda how I feel about the poll. Wish Fujino would've just kept driving, but he thought it was polite to ask those invested in the trip their opinion.