The sequence of actions a user of an interface must perform in order to achieve a given goal is termed interaction syntax. This paper, starting from the study of some strategies used by the designers of interfaces for videogames, Internet websites, PC applications, such as the condensation or extension of sequences of actions and the prolonging of syntax, highlights the emergence of the temporal dimension in man-computer interaction. It is also possible to identify a narrative dimension in Human Computer Interaction, since interactivity is a process that takes place along the temporal dimension and is displayed in a linear chain of successive actions. The narration is thus an element shared by all interactive experiences, from multimedial encyclopaedias to word-processors, from web surfing to using an ATM. This means it is possible to apply a semiotics of passions also to interactive environments, and to investigate how interfaces contribute to the creation of affective states and to arouse emotions. Such an approach would reveal the contractual and interpretative aspects of a process – interaction with the computer – which is far from being an automatic and ‘natural’ operation.