Having recently got this game from Steam, I have thought of a few nice to haves:
When in squad, an icon besides each players name indicating which tech tier they are at (highest tier of ship).
Along with a warning that the squad will be placed into a match equal to the tier of the highest player.
It took me a few games etc to work out I was hospital passing my friends by being in a higher tier due to steam DLC.
An extra ship slot, not to take into battles but more of a garage/construction slot for me to mess about with while my squad mates are in ship design and contracts etc. The ships I do fly are pretty tricked out so I dont spend much time re-editing them, but some of my friends are still messing with their ships. So would save me being bored waiting on them. (Admitiadly I could and do just swap one of the ships I am flying to the one I am editing and back again, but that is many more clicks & time than a garage slot would require.)
Icons or colours on the ship scoreboard in game indicating each squad, you can see clans for instance, but not everone is in a clan, and knowing whom is likely to be working together can help the teamwork. For instance knowing that your teams commander in combat recon has 3 buddies in his squad will usually mean you dont need to add your ship to the defence.