For those not seeing the sense in this change, keep in mind that many teams have adopted a Product approach vs a Project approach to work, especially when they will continue enhancing their product indefinitely into the future. Calling those collections of work "projects" was always weird, and this fixes that problem. "Product backlog" is a more common term outside of Jira vernacular, but "Space" is generic enough to work for both Product- and Project-oriented bodies of work.
So I'm pretty happy about this change. I assume lots of others are too but just aren't commenting here.
@Jeff Madison it isn't that we don't see the sense in the change, it is just that we do not agree with it. What you described is exactly the scenario I explained in a previous comment about changing the tool because it of "how we use it". Just because there are some people that purchased a Project Management tool and don't like that it is using the term Project does not mean it should be changed to accommodate that.
I will ask again, why can it not be a new added feature to accommodate the cases where people are wanting to not call a project a project (and yes, I understand what you stated, but I do not agree, as a long standing project is still a project)?
I also do not think using the term "Product" is correct as a product is something that is provided from one entity to another, either as a physical or virtual item, or as a service. We do not work on software development products, we work on software development projects to create products.
I've worked with Atlassian products since around 2008/2009, and while the renaming of "Projects" doesn’t bother me too much conceptually (it's a pain though, ngl), I do think the rollout was mishandled. This kind of change shouldn’t be rushed, especially when the term "Project" is so deeply embedded in both the functionality (APIs, JQL, etc.) and the product language developed over decades.
I believe a lot of the frustration could have been reduced if Atlassian had chosen "Workspace" instead of "Space." As others also have pointed out, "Workspace" would preserve a clearer distinction between Jira and Confluence, while still aligning with existing (and new) terminology.
In general:
A Space suggests a broad, open area often associated with documentation or team hubs (like MS Teams or SharePoint).
A Workspace implies a place for active work, organization, and task management.
Most people naturally shorten terms in conversation to reduce cognitive load. By using "Space" across both Jira and Confluence, Atlassian has unintentionally increased that load for millions of people. I’ve already had to clarify which product I was referring to in a conversation, and I expect this confusion will grow - especially for those of us involved in support, training, or cross-product collaboration. It's an unnecessary addition to the cognitive load for a lot of people.
To put it simply: The same name should not be used for areas in different products with different functionality and intention. The aim of technology products like Atlassian's should be to reduce cognitive load where possible, not increase it.
Why the choice of using identical names was made, is interestingly the only feedback I don't see anyone replying to, and it also wasn't addressed in any of the original blog posts, where the focus is on why it should't be called "Projects". I'd really like to hear it.
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