Web Dev like it’s 1999

Penned by “Jenica”

Categorized as “Opinion”

Simplified Version

Overview

It’s been a long time since Jakob Nielson made his The Top 10 Web Design Mistakes of 1999 article. I read the article, and wanted to share my thoughts about his 10 design mistakes. Mostly, this is comparing the same mistakes to the things I see today. Each bullet point it taken from the article, but the thoughts underneath it are my own.

  1. Breaking or Slowing Down the Back Button
    It’s great that websites don’t mess with the back button anymore! This used to be a big mistake on websites, but now it’s much better.
  2. Opening New Browser Windows
    Some websites still open links in new tabs, which can be confusing and messy. We should stop making everything open in a new tab, like social media links in the footer. It’s better to keep things simple!
  3. Using Non-Standard Icons
    Some new icons, like the sparkle symbol, are being used in strange ways which could confuse people. We’ve gotten better at using standard icons, like the hamburger menu for navigation.
  4. Lack of Biographies
    People are becoming more anonymous online these days. Maybe we should bring back showing who wrote articles, like in the good old days!
  5. Lack of Archives
    Websites are full of old content which is bad for the environment because it uses up too much space on servers. But, it’s still important to consider keeping old content sometimes.
  6. Moving Pages to New URLs
    Changing website links can be confusing, even though it’s sometimes necessary. But it’s better when links stay the same so people don’t get lost.
  7. Headlines That Make No Sense Out of Context
    Some headlines on websites don’t make sense if you don’t read the whole article. This is still a problem because it can confuse people, especially those who use tools to read websites out loud.
  8. Jumping at the Latest Internet Buzzword
    Some websites use buzzwords like artificial intelligent (AI) to get attention, but it often turns out to be pointless. It’s just to make you click, even if the AI isn’t useful at all.
  9. Slow Server Response Times
    Websites used to be really slow, and sometimes they still are. But they’ve gotten much better!
  10. Anything That Looks Like Advertising
    Ads on websites are super annoying, and some browsers now help block them. It would be great if all browsers did that, so we can enjoy the content without being bothered by ads.

It’s now been over 25 years since Jakob Nielson made his The Top 10 Web Design Mistakes of 1999 and it’s still an interesting read in 2025!  I read the article and it made me think about how the web has changed, or not changed, since the nineties. Care to read his now 25 year old blog post, reminisce, and then compare that list to the present day with me?

Nielsen’s article lists 10 web usability sins, and 25 years later I’ve now added my two cents about those same sins and current web user experience (UX) practices.

1. Breaking or Slowing Down the Back Button

  • I’m so glad I don’t think anyone redirects the back button! I’ve honestly never come across it, or if it has happened I haven’t noticed. Hive-five, fellow developers of today, for laying this 1999 web design mistake to rest.

2. Opening New Browser Windows

  • This number two though… it’s still so widespread. (And honestly I would say that making links open in new tabs is probably the biggest modern day offender of rule #1 which renders the back button useless) 

  • We don’t want to be forcing site users to clutter their browsers and their mental maps of a site without reason. In fact, The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) technique G201 and G200 directly reference the harms of opening links in new browser windows! These techniques relate to Understanding Guideline 3.2 (Predictable).

  • Devs, let’s band together and convince everyone that the social links in the footer of every website DO NOT need to force a new tab!

3. Non-Standard Use of graphical user interface (GUI) Widgets

  • I read this really interesting CSS Tricks article about a new symbol that’s taking the world by storm: the sparkle icon. It was called the proliferation and problem of the sparkles icon. It’s different from the multi-purpose sparkle emoji, the sparkle icon seems to be used more and more for artificial intelligence. Could this end up being a new standard interface icon in the future?

  • In general, I think that the web world has been doing pretty good at standardizing their icons. Hamburger icons in particular are very commonplace now with the rise of the smartphone since the 2000’s and 2010’s. 

4. Lack of Biographies

  • I’m intrigued by this item being so high on Jakob Nielson’s list! I think site visitors these days are more comfortable with anonymity on the web (which seems unfortunate). With the exponential increase in artificial intelligence (AI) writing, that can only increase the amount of ambiguity we’ll be seeing on blogs and news websites. How about we bring back the byline in 2025? 

5. Lack of Archives and 6. Moving Pages to New Addresses

  • Undoubtedly there are so many opinions about archival web content and redirecting links! I love archives personally, but I do believe that too many people refuse to do their “digital spring cleaning” which leads to bloated websites and data servers that are polluting needlessly. It’s also worth mentioning that over 25 years later, we have exponentially increased the content on the web compared to each handcrafted website in the 90’s. In 2025, someone with a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) point of view, or a content manager point of view, will probably not agree with Jakob Nielson on this usability mistake.

  • I was curious, so I looked it up: 301 redirects had been around since the beginning of the internet in 1996. (Here is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol – HTTP/1.0) While I still think in today’s day and age that redirects (especially multiple chaining redirects) can be confusing, it’s not a big deal to use them here and there.

7. Headlines That Make No Sense Out of Context

  • Yes, this is still such an issue, and once you start noticing it you can’t unsee all of these unhelpful headlines! No matter whether its a link, a button title, or a heading, I think that we all can improve our clarity. It’s especially important when considering web users who scan headings and headers like a table of contents, such as those who use screen readers.

  • When is the last time you saw a homepage that had only clear and sensible headings? It’s rarer than you might think.

8. Jumping at the Latest Internet Buzzword

  • This was so nostalgic to read. And it’s still got truth to it! I’m still rolling my eyes every time I see an AI chatbot that I need to play around with just so that I can send an email to a real person. 

9. Slow Server Response Times

  • We’ve had lots of improvement! It can still be an issue though. ‘Nuf said!

10. Anything That Looks Like Advertising

  • Safari’s hide distraction feature and reader mode have been game changers for me, have you been using them too? Web advertisements I’m sure have only gotten worse, even with the prolific ad blockers in the extension market. I’d love to see more browsers (Like Firefox’s reader mode) adopt the idea that they can give web users a better experience by giving the power back to the web content, and not the web ads.