I’m also of the opinion that Ubuntu Dock should be improved.
In my opinion, having these options would be a great improvement:
- Option to put the launcher button (menu) at the beginning of the dock;
- Option to minimize window by clicking the icon;
- Option to leave the dock centered (like Gnome pure or macOS) without being stretched;
- Option to merge the dock with the top panel, as the extension Dash to Panel.
Why should these options exist?
- Prevents the need to install extensions (such as Dash to Dock or Dash to Panel) and modifications in dconf;
- More customization options, useres like to customize;
- It satisfies users who prefer a family layout (so they can configure as they like);
- The normal user prefers everything out of the box. For a new user to look for extensions and tutorials on the internet can be something more complicated and unnecessary. If by default there are no features they like, they prefer to go to other distros. Currently, other distros have grown a lot because they are very user friendly, this would be another way to retain and attract new users.
But this is just my opinion 
I was to have opened a topic with these suggestions, but in the end I ended up not doing it.