The rise of conversational generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini is revolutionizing online interactions. Previous research has identified five categories of uses and gratifications (U&G) for users engaging with these chatbots: information seeking, task efficiency, social interaction, entertainment, and personalization. Despite the wide range of use cases, most chatbots provide one-size-fits-all text-based interactions, neglecting user preferences. Recent advancements are progressively introducing interactive features that empower users to control their interactions, such as choosing a preferred conversational style. However, despite these improvements in the industry, the interactivity in gen AI chatbots remains underexplored. This thesis serves as a user-centric foundational study of user engagement with gen AI chatbots by understanding users’ context of use across the five U&G dimensions, analyzing the limitations of text-based interactions, and proposing practical suggestions for desired interactive features.