I like the new design for now. What 1.0 version of something doesn't have issues? At least we have something started and we can iterate on it often. The question I have is, has there been a discussion on whether or not there will be a guide that explains how to earn these badges? I can see the positives and negatives of doing such a thing.

Seeing badges could encourage people to contribute more to earn them but on the flip side, you might get people submitting not so useful plugins just to get a badge.