Affordance-Driven Interface Design in Massive Online Communications: Shaping User Experience in Social Live-Streaming Services

Social live-streaming services are video-based platforms that enable real-time interactions between content creators and audiences, monetizing engagement through mechanisms like gift-giving and donations. While prior research has explored user motivations and behaviors through affordance frameworks, it has largely focused on high-level platform features, offering limited design guidance. This study examines how user interface design elements influence communication dynamics in social live-streaming environments and develops practical design principles for user-centric platforms. By adopting a design-oriented perspective of affordances—focusing on perceived actions enabled by the interface—and employing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, we analyze how different affordances shape user experiences. Our findings provide actionable insights for designing social live-streaming service interfaces that enhance user engagement while balancing user experience goals with business objectives. This research demonstrates how specific design elements influence communication dynamics, offering valuable guidelines for future platform improvements.