A messaging application running on a computing device utilizes a navigation model that exposes user interfaces (UIs) which implement a messaging conversation history in a minimized form so that a user can quickly jump to a desired conversation displayed on a chat card without having to toggle back and forth between a conventional messaging list view and chat card views. The minimized conversation history can be implemented using a scrollable carousel of images that is persistently displayed on the UI. The images represent messaging participants (i.e., contacts) that are arranged in an ordered display according to conversation history. The particular contact that is associated with the currently displayed chat card is highlighted in the carousel using color and/or other graphic treatments. As messaging activities occur and new messages come in and are sent out, the carousel is dynamically updated to show the contacts in the appropriate sorted historical order.