In 1999, my book "Usability – Grundlagen, Beispiele, Trends" was published. More than a quarter of a century later, its core question is still highly relevant: Why do people have to adapt to poor technology when technology can also be developed for people?
An Early Work on Web Usability
The book combines three levels: the foundations of usability engineering, practical work at the RIPE NCC in Amsterdam, and a broad perspective on technical developments. For a German-language work from the early days of the web, this combination is quite ambitious. One practical concept from it still holds true today: an interface is not understandable simply because its development team finds it logical. It is only understandable when the intended target audience can successfully complete their task with it.
The project chapters document statistical and quality tools for the RIPE database: inputs were organised, feedback was formulated more clearly, and visualisations were simplified step-by-step. In this work, design was therefore already a verifiable development process and not just a matter of personal taste.
Why the Original Book is Not Being Republished
Due to legal reasons, we cannot fully republish the original book as a PDF or HTML at this time. Instead, we have provided this newly written historical retrospective.
Core Principles That Remain Relevant
Some core ideas sound obvious today: understanding target audiences, testing early, not blaming users for errors, prioritising information architecture over decoration, and improving systems iteratively. All of these principles can already be found in the 1999 book.
The outlook is also interesting as a historical document. The book examines wearable computers, augmented reality, automated recognition, and the competition for attention collectively. While the devices and predictions of the time are long obsolete, the underlying questions continue to challenge digital products to this day.
Therefore, this new retrospective does not treat the book as a current technical guide. It shows what was remarkable about this early work and which parts have since become historical.
The full retrospective follows further down in this article.
Fact Check: Predictions from 1999 and the Status in 2026
A second article examines the future topics of that time using current primary sources. It shows which developments have been confirmed, which have only partially materialised, and which cannot be verified.
Technology Predictions from 1999 in a 2026 Fact Check
Historical Retrospective: Web Usability in 1999
This retrospective, rewritten in 2026, refers to the 1999 book edition. It does not replace a digital reissue of the original book.
Bibliographic Context
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Usability – Grundlagen, Beispiele, Trends |
| Author | DI (FH) Kurt Dirnbauer |
| Book Edition | 1999 |
| Publisher | Libri Books on Demand |
| ISBN | 3-89811-928-9 |
| Length | 182 pages according to bibliographic details |
Usability as a Development Process
The book begins with a simple observation: a technical system can be functionally correct and yet still get in people's way. Usability was therefore not a decorative quality, but the result of a development process. The team needed to understand the tasks and prior knowledge of the target audience, test early designs, and derive concrete changes from observed problems.
A large part of the book applies this approach to the early World Wide Web. It focuses on the purpose and content of a website, clear navigation, readable text, reasonable response times, and consistent feedback. What mattered was not whether a page appeared technically sophisticated, but whether people could find the information they were looking for and complete their task.
Practical Work at the RIPE NCC
The practical core was developed during my time working at the RIPE NCC in Amsterdam. Several tools were designed to present statistics and quality issues of the RIPE database in an understandable way. The documented drafts show an iterative path: selecting information, organising inputs, explaining error situations, and simplifying displays based on feedback. For a piece of work from the early days of the web, this connection between methodology and concrete development is remarkably consistent.
Looking Beyond Traditional Websites
The trend chapter dealt with automated recognition, mobile and wearable computers, augmented reality, internet governance, and the growing competition for human attention. While many technical details are obsolete today, the overarching question remains: how do new interfaces change the relationship between people, information, and technology?
From today's perspective, the strongest part of the book is not the individual predictions, but the consistent approach of making usage observable and design verifiable. Anyone developing a system bears the responsibility of ensuring that the intended target audience can cope with it. This concept is taken for granted today; the book already applied it to the web back in 1999.
Aspects That Remain Relevant
Observable Usage
Design is evaluated based on tasks, errors, and feedback. The personal preferences of the development team are not sufficient as proof.
Iteration as a Way of Working
Drafts are tested and revised. Usability is thus an integral part of development and not a cosmetic afterthought.
Practical Project at the RIPE NCC
The work at the RIPE NCC connects abstract principles with database statistics, input forms, and clear error communication.
New Interfaces
Even before the mobile platform economy, the book collectively addresses wearable computers, augmented reality, and attention as a scarce resource.
Licence of the Retrospective
© 2026 Kurt Dirnbauer. This newly formulated historical retrospective is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.