I have a question regarding upgrading ships.

When you click on a ship, such as the scout, and then click on upgrade, why do you only see the scout's hull? I think it would be better if you could see what the scout currently had. This way you could simply take off components you've improved upon and replace them with the newer ones, e.g. if I've only improved the weapon technology but everything else is constant, then I only want to replace the weapon.

Instead, I have to remember every component that was on the ship, re-add the components I want to keep and add the new components. Also, since with some of my own designs (actually improvements on existing computer designs like the scout and defender,) I don't actually remember what I had on the ship, I usually have to back out from the design mode and try to look at the current ship information and try to decipher what I had on it.

What do most of the experienced players out there do? I saw one thread where people name the ship in such a way that it helps them know things like it's range, hull size, and firepower, but even that won't help them remember exactly what they have on the ship. Do players write down components for their designs? It would make sense if the computer and its interface did this by either listing the components on the current ship or even simpler leaving those components on the ship when you click on the upgrade button.

Any thoughts or other ideas a new user might use?