Interactivity is something researchers study, new technology commercials promote, and designers create. It’s not something people do. People use the internet, watch TV, shop, explore, learn, send and receive email, look things up… The word interactivity and its derivatives are used to represent so many different meanings that the word muddles rather than clarifies the speaker’s intent. The construct is worth salvaging carefully so future research more clearly defines the interaction parameters of interest and specifies what aspect(s) of interactivity are being examined. This article offers a conceptualization of interactivity and suggests domains for operationalizations intended to be useful for researchers and designers.
Carrie Heeter (2000) studied this question.