New Atlassian Marketplace UI: A Good Thing (A Few Thoughts)

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Atlassian quietly rolled out a refreshed look for the Atlassian Marketplace. The new design is clean, simple and minimal.

App tiles now show only three elements: the logo, the name, and a short description.

What’s missing is just as important: installation counts, badges, and visible reviews are no longer front and center.

At first glance, this may feel like Atlassian has hidden valuable signals. But if we look at the broader dynamics of the ecosystem, this change is actually a meaningful step toward leveling the playing field, especially for new vendors and young products.

1. A More Equal First Impression for New Vendors

For years, the Marketplace worked like any other highly competitive digital platform, strong apps got stronger. High installation counts, glowing reviews, and long-standing badges created a natural momentum bias. New vendors entering the ecosystem often found themselves competing not on product quality but on perception.

A user landing on a category page was naturally drawn to apps with:

• 1,000+ installs

• 10+ reviews

• Badges earned months ago

Even if a new app offered a better experience, a cleaner UI, or more modern capabilities, it often remained invisible simply because the numbers worked against it.

By removing these immediate signals, Atlassian gives new vendors something invaluable, a neutral starting point. Apps are now evaluated first on their purpose and clarity of value not their age or historical momentum.

A quick but important clarification

When a user opens a specific app page or visits a vendor profile they still see the full picture: installation counts, reviews, and all available badges. The change affects only the Marketplace listing view, not the detailed vendor space.

👉  Here is my vendor page as an example

2. Users Are Encouraged to Explore More

Previously, most traffic naturally flowed to the top few apps simply because social proof was visible at a glance.

Now users need to slow down a bit and make decisions differently:

• open descriptions,
• compare features,
• look at screenshots,
• judge based on relevance rather than popularity.

This creates a healthier discovery environment. Niche tools, specialized solutions, and innovative newcomers finally have a chance to be seen, not buried under historical metrics.

3. Less Ranking, More Relationship

The old design rewarded age, not necessarily quality. Reviews and installs accumulated over many years were often interpreted as a proxy for superiority even if the product hadn’t evolved much lately.

The new layout encourages users to pay more attention to actual functionality, documentation, and product direction.

When badges, installs, and reviews aren’t instantly visible, discovery becomes less passive. This means vendors (both old and new) will need to work more actively on:

• personalized outreach,

• customer conversations,

• demos and trials,

• community presence,

• clearer value communication.

This is not just good for the ecosystem it's good for end users. They get more personalized, thoughtful engagement and better context to decide what truly fits their needs.

4. A More Welcoming Ecosystem for New Creators

The refreshed Marketplace sends an important message:
New creators belong here too and they deserve a fair chance.

A solo developer or a small team launching their first Forge app no longer needs to fear being overshadowed by install numbers or years of reviews. They now have a real opportunity to compete and users have a real opportunity to discover promising new solutions.

This is how healthy ecosystems grow, not only by honoring legacy, but by making space for what comes next.

Some may initially miss the instantly visible stars, numbers, and badges.

But from the perspective of fairness, innovation, and long term ecosystem health, this redesign is a step in the right direction.

And most importantly, it gives every vendor whether they’ve been here for ten years or ten days a chance to be truly seen.