Science gathering in KSP1 has always felt a bit pointless to me: It was just about clicking your thermometer or whatever in the right place and left you with nothing but a funny text and some points. But you don't really get any new insights: You can see any planet/moon and its properties in the tracking station.
I think that just by hiding some information from the player one could make science a much more meaningful part of the game:
For example, the "physical characteristics" tab in the tracking station could be filled only after according measurements.
Also, what if celestial bodies were blurred out in map view and the tracking center, as if you would see them through a telescope on Kerbin? And only became detailed once you got a spaceship into their SOI?
Things like that would add a component of discovery that would make science/career mode so much more exciting!
