I just had the idea that a small box listing the people in the sector for the HUD would be awesome, as the big list limits functionality while looking at it.

that's a great idea. too often do i have to take a quick glance at the userlist to select a ship, and you can't do anything in the process. it could even highlight a ship/whatever that you have targetted, so you can easily go through each ship and find the one that you want. i know that HUD space is limited at lower resolutions, though, so it'd either have to be very well placed or an option.