none of or chat/comm tools, tech, saas, and online interfaces work like this
this is exactly the kind of thing you shouldn't try
check out The Design Of Everyday Thing, and maybe more so Don't Make Me Think
I mean, you can TRY... just "that's how we've always done it" doesn't mean it's bad. Blogs and news sites always post stuff at the top to stay in the F-shaped layout. Chats do the opposite. Services don't conform to any of that (each web dashboard has its own unique layout).
I just find it curious why all the big players in the space all somehow came to use the same UI. The same font choice and same Projects, Recents, Chats layout on the left side seems beyond mere chance. (Kinda how the Soviet's Buran orbiter somehow magically came to look like the exact same design of spacecraft as the NASA's Space Shuttle. Surely no peeking or copying took place.)
when it comes to chat direction, that's about users rejecting it, it's too different, people are creatures of habit and comfort