We use dialgebras, generalising both algebras and coalgebras, as a complement of the standard coalgebraic framework, aimed at describing the semantics of an interactive system by the means of reaction rules. In this model, interaction is built-in, and semantic equivalence arises from it, instead of being determined by a (possibly difficult) understanding of the side effects of a component in isolation. Behavioural equivalence in dialgebras is determined by how a given process interacts with the others, and the obtained observations. We develop a technique to inter-define categories of dialgebras of different functors, that in particular permits us to compare a standard coalgebraic semantics and its dialgebraic counterpart. We exemplify the framework using the CCS and the π-calculus. Remarkably, the dialgebra giving semantics to the π-calculus does not require the use of presheaf categories. ⋆ The research leading to these results was partially supported by the EU FET 7FP Collaborative Project n. 600708 (QUANTICOL), the PAR FAS 2007-2013 (TRACE-IT) project, and the EU 7FP projects n. 256980 (NESSoS), n. 257930 (Aniketos), n. 295354 (SESAMO).