I'm not sure if the rationale behind some of the design changes has been shared, but it would help couch them in context.

I'm a developer, so by definition I'm a power user. So maybe this redesign isn't for me, but when I search for a plugin for a client who has a problem I start with installs and reviews, and I look at who the plugin author is. As long as this information is still present somewhere, like if it launches in a modal when I click on the plugin title or thumb, then that's fine for me.

I think they need to do a better job telling me what "Pro," "Light," and those meta tags are. Are those tags talking about the plugin, or are they talking about the requirements for my WordPress site...? Without context, it's difficult to understand what those mean.

Otherwise I'd echo updating the search algorithm and implementing a better hierarchy for categorization. The flat tag hierarchy is difficult to use and not informative. There should be a facet-driven hierarchy with categorization and then tags/facets for whether something is premium/free, beta/official, etc. I'd also like a special category for anything under consideration for being implemented into WordPress core.

Otherwise I like the clarity of the layout and I doubt I'd get hung up on my favorite features disappearing. I only rarely use the plugin search directory now a days, so most of these changes may not be for my use case.