Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about where digital rhetoric fits in the bigger academic picture, and more importantly how it connects to other disciplines. Prior to reading, I had little knowledge on Human-Computer Interaction, or HCI. I have determined that HCI is the science (and sometimes art) of designing how we interact with computers. Everything from touchscreen interfaces to voice assistants to the layout of a website. It’s more than just aesthetics or user experience; it’s a deep, interdisciplinary field that lives at the intersection of psychology, computer science, cognitive science, and sociology.
What really struck me, though, is how much overlap exists between this and digital rhetoric. Digital rhetoric, at its core, is about how communication happens in digital spaces; how meaning is made, how arguments are shaped, how interfaces themselves persuade us or guide our behavior. That’s the key: the interface.
In HCI, the interface is something you build. You research it, test it, tweak it, evaluate how well it works. In digital rhetoric, the interface is something you interpret and critique. You ask, what does this interface say? How does it shape the way users understand or navigate a message? In a sense, we’re both looking at the same object, but from different sides of the glass.
I think the potential here is exciting. If digital rhetoricians and HCI designers collaborated more intentionally, designers could benefit from understanding how interfaces communicate rhetorically, not just functionally. Digital rhetoric could evolve by engaging more deeply with how interfaces are made, not just what they mean after the fact.
I love how HCI defines itself: “the study of people, computer technology, and the ways these influence each other.” Honestly, that sounds a lot like digital rhetoric, too. Sure, the methods and goals are different, but HCI leans more toward usability and performance. On the other hand, digital rhetoric is about persuasion, identity, and meaning-making. But both are asking similar questions: How do people and machines shape each other? What happens when we interact with technology?
To me, that’s where the magic is. When you start seeing the screen not just as a tool but as a site of communication, a place where values are embedded in code and layout decisions, you start to realize just how much power there is in the design of digital systems.
So when I think about where digital rhetoric fits, I see it sitting right alongside HCI, not as a competitor, but as a complementary lens. One builds the system. The other interprets it. And if we’re lucky, maybe we can do both.
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