Doug Eyman (2015) identifies interactivity as a defining element of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Interactivity is not limited to just basic user actions like clicking links or pressing buttons. It is instead a reflection of an ongoing exchange between humans and digital systems. These exchanges help to shape how meaning is created, experienced, and understood within digital environments.
Users as Active Participants
Eyman emphasizes that interactivity transforms users from passive readers into active participants. In digital spaces, users make choices that directly affect content, structure, and outcomes. This shift is extremely crucial to digital rhetoric because it highlights how users help construct meaning. Interfaces guide user behavior through design. Which invites certain actions, and can also discourage others. Each interaction becomes rhetorical, influencing how users interpret and engage with information.
Levels of Interactivity and User Agency
Interactivity does exist, but it exists on a spectrum. It ranges from simple navigation, to complex and adaptive systems. Eyman does note that higher levels of interactivity does help to increase a user’s sense of agency and control. When a digital system responds smoothly and intuitively, users will feel empowered, and this makes the user want to engage even further. Conversely, having a poorly designed interaction does create some confusion and produce frustration. This weakens the rhetorical effectiveness of the digital experience.
So, ultimately Doug Eyman does argue that interactivity is very foundational to digital rhetoric and HCI. Meaning is produced not just through content, but through participation. Effective inter activity bridges human intention and technological response, making digital experiences feel purposeful rather than mechanical.
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