Hello – I understand you dont do custom development, just wanted to share some thoughts.
I’m curious as to why your /members and private message ares of the buddyapp theme dont follow a more user focused design. BTW I do love the theme and am using it but I believe it could be improved significantly.
For example tinder.com or badoo.com
What users want to see is large profile pictures of users nearby them. I think your company could produce something similar to what tinder has. Once two users both like each other they become Matches or “friends” and are taken to the chat screen.
Currently the private message area is kind of strange to me and could do with usability improvement. Users just want a whatsapp/tinder/badoo style chat screen that takes up most of the window, no need to select who your chatting to or a message title.
I dont understand why buddypress does not focus more on user engagement and user interaction