In response to a question on MSO about providing the ability to ignore specific users, the powers-that-be said, a few months ago, that they're considering offering some "option to mute interactions in a more granular way."
I primarily use unix.stackexchange.com as an answerer, and my interface is the Questions page, most recent first. What I'd find useful is a way to mute a question that I know I won't be answering, so that I don't keep seeing it again and again when I revisit the Questions page.