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Interactivity is a widely discussed concept in information and communication sciences without its meaning ever having been stabilised. Faced with the profusion of conceptualisations and the dispersion of definitions, we propose a new contribution which aims to offer a general understanding of interactivity. In this publication, we construct our argument around three approaches – definitional, dichotomous, and typological – which emerge from the scientific literature, and we develop a reflection that leads to three complementary contributions: a definition of interactivity valid for systems with a user interface; a theorization of the relationship between the user and the designer in an interaction contract; and, finally, a classification of the levels at which interactivity operates in a computer system.