What I've often proposed but never achieved is that Frontier talks to player groups that specialize in a particular game style for when anything is proposed that could potentially really change the balance of the game. Whether it is for PvP, BGS, PowerPlay, exploration, engineering, anti-xeno, botting, etc. Could be individual players too, that are known to specialize in certain things, so it doesn't have to be exclusive to groups. The reality is though that within player groups knowledge is grown quicker and shared quicker.
Just a sounding board, with NDA's if necessary, though ideally not, so there is no sense of favoritism. No decision power, but at least some feedback from people who know that particular aspect of the game really well.