A bunch of simple tweaks and ideas (and some not so simple ones)

[Dresdom]

A cool-idea-but-never-going-to-happen would be to add a row of off/amber/red lights to the helm for the captain instead of icons.

That's actually a nice idea, to give the pilot a bit more of a field of view to look around and still keep it authentic to get a look at damaged components.

I like that idea. So a good captain can help a lot a engineer.

[Captain Smollett]

Good captains do that now. 

You can see all the components at all times no matter where you're looking, not to say it wouldn't be cool and all.

[Rainer Zu Fall]

But the symbols may be in your way when looking around. Some people may loose the overview whilst piloting, so a cleaner HUD might help those.