The group finder tool in-game has been a relative success in terms of being an alternative to using external websites such as OpenRaid (from a long time ago) to form groups. It has been iterated on multiple times for the better but there are still some quick wins to make it even better to kerb community alternatives from needing to be developed (there are many discords built for this purpose and a bot in the works that I’m aware of right now to act as an alternative for group finder with more customisation just as an FYI).
Ultimately the group finder needs to be as useful as possible for both the leader and the applicant and in some areas external tools are a necessity in order to form the group that you want.
The latest patch did deliver some improvement to the group finder however the Goal function doesn’t fully work for me. You are not able to search by the Goal.
If I search for “Earn Conquest” this group does not appear.
This means that in order to find a group with a goal that aligns to me I have to scroll through everything 
Raid
What can you see right now:
As the applicant:
• Group Name
• Leaders Name
• Numerical amounts of each role
• Bosses that have been killed
As the leader:
• Role + Class
• Name
• Item Level
What is missing useful information:
• What is in the group: Right now if you want to see who is in the group an addon is required.
Base UI:
Premade Group Filter addon:
• Raid Progress: You cannot see this information and it can be quite vital to form your group with a level of confidence that it will succeed.
As the Leader
Base UI:
Raider.io addon:
With just the base UI I’m not going to invite this person at all. It’s risk to forming my group to bring what can only be assumed to be a low geared, inexperienced player. With the addon enabled I can see that this person is an alt and has cleared Normal on it so they are attempting to gear it up and I can expect some level of competancy. The chances of them being invited rose significantly purely because this additional piece of information was available.
As the Applicant
Base UI:
I can see what bosses have been killed and the amounts of each role.
raider.io addon:
I’m now able to see the Raid progress of the leader on both the character they are on and their main. This allows me to make an informed decision as an applicant if this group can be capable of clearing the Raid and ultimately sign up to the group.
Mythic+
What can you see right now:
• Role + Class
• Name
• Item Level
• Total Rating
If you hover over a person you can get some more detailed information about the dungeon score as well.
What is missing useful information:
• What is in the group: Right now if you want to see who is in the group an addon is required.
All i can see here is that there are 2 DPS in the group. I have no idea what i’m in for and if the comp is what I would want to play with.
With an addon, I’m able to see, ok, it’s a Shaman and a Paladin. I have no idea what type of Shaman, but it’s a definite improvement.
• M+ score on alts: Right now you use the raider.io addon to get this information and it will show the progression from their main if the characters are linked on the website allowing people to play on alts easier.
To use the example cited in the What you can see right now section, this player signed up to my key. On the base UI I can see they have a very low score and haven’t done a single mists key. I’m pretty much not going to invite them based on this information.
However, with the raider.io addon installed I can clearly see this is an alt and they have 2.1k score on their main, so the risk of them compromising my key with a lack of prior experience is significantly minimised. I’m now likely to invite them.
• The highest completed run (if highest is a deplete): Right now if your highest completed key of that dungeon is a deplete, it will show up as your highest key.
This is a huge red flag to anyone creating a group as if their highest key is a deplete, you have no idea if they’ve even timed it. They could have bought a boost from a really bad boosting community. They could have been the one to cause the deplete. You have no idea. This information to the leader just means, don’t invite this person. They’re tainted. They’re bad goods.
However, if you were to look on raider.io you would see that this person has timed keys before and you’re now likely to invite them:
• What Covenant they are: M+ has a large focus on Covenant selection to gain dungeon bonuses. Right now people write this in their note if its applicable for the dungeon, but it would be great to just have it in the base UI.
• [Potential Improvement] Just to plug your key into the UI and have it fill out all of the required information. Would be a huge Quality of Life improvement for people who are listing groups.
PvP
What can you see right now:
• Role + Class
• Name
• PvP Item Level
• Current Rating both as the applicant and the leader.
What is missing useful information:
• What is in the group: Right now if you want to see who is in the group an addon is required.
Base UI:
With Addon:
This is even more important for RBGs to see if the comp is something you want to play with. If you see 1x Tank, but then you sign up and see its a BDK. You’re probably not going to stick around.
• Spec: For example, if a Shaman DPS is applying, the missing info I need is what Spec they are.
• Maximum Historical Rating: Right now you use external tools to look this up such as check-pvp.fr knowing this information can help to inform your decision to bring them in as it could be they are just starting their journey this season and was very high rated previously.
• Rating on alts: As with M+ score, this is important information to know for both parties as it can help inform your decision if you want to bring them or not. With M+ score it’s kind of safe to assume that if they’re high score on their main, they would do alright on their alt. For PvP a lot more nuanced knowledge is required so may not be fully useful but it’s helpful for sure. If they’re 3k Rating on their main, chances are they can play anything.
• What Covenant they are: Knowing more about your potential partners leads to better success rates as you know ahead of time if you can synergise with them or not.
