The electronic scholarly edition has yet to find a stable visual form that emulates its print counterpart in utility and universality. This paper will discuss the present gap between electronic editing and interface design – between the encoded text and the reader’s experience of it – with an eye to the potential held by web applications, rich-client architectures (such as AJAX, Asynchronous Javascript and XML), and object-oriented design for editors undertaking HCI development themselves. Though textual and literary scholars often bring a nuanced semiotic and historical sense to the study of interface, digital and otherwise, many find it difficult to apply their knowledge in digital environments dominated by business-oriented software or similarly instrumental tools. Drawing examples from my own use of web applications with the Electronic New Variorum Shakespeare, I will argue that the humble web browser holds great potential for humanists as a venue for HCI experimentation and development.