The Trunk Test

The Trunk Test was invented by Steve Krug (Don’t Make Me Think, 2000). Briefly explained, it focuses on how well a user is able to identify six elements on any page of a website:

  • What is the website’s name?
  • What is the title of the specific page?
  • Where in the website’s structure is the specific page?
  • What are the major categories of the website?
  • What are the sub-categories of that page?
  • Where is the search functionality?

The purpose of the test is to ensure that a user who arrives through a search engine or a deep link can quickly figure out what to do.

Ole Gregersen and Ian Wisler-Poulsen (Usability, 2011) suggest rating the six elements on a scale from zero to three. While this rating is subjective, it can help create a starting point for identifying on areas to be re-designed.

Note that different types of websites have different purposes. For this reason, the six elements do not have equal weight. For example, the name is not very important for an intranet, while it will be very important for a business trading under a premium brand.

Disclaimer: This test is for educational purposes only. This website not affiliated with Hotel Berlin Berlin.

Hotel Berlin Berlin

Dining & Bar

Dining & Bar page of Hotel Berlin Berlin, 2 May 2020.
  • Website name (red): The website logo and name is located in the top-left corner. This is the location where most users will look, though it is still not very prominent compared to the main menu. Two points.
  • Page title (green): The page title is easy to see. Unfortunately, the title does not clearly reflect the page’s contents. The page is reached by clicking Dining & Bar, which would have been a much clearer title. One point.
  • Site structure (blue): The breadcrumbs are very clearly visible. The relevant major category is also highlighted. Three points.
  • Major categories (magenta): The menu is located where most people will look, and the categories are easy to understand. Three points.
  • Sub-categories (cyan): The links to the menus are visible just above the fold, though will be below the fold on smaller screens. One point.
  • Search (yellow): While the website does not have enough pages to warrant a contents search functionality, the room search is clearly visible. Three points.

In total, the page gets 10 points out of 18. The most important change would here be to make the page title reflect the contents. As it is not, the title appear to indicate only the bar, not the restaurant.

Restaurant menu

Restaurant menu of Hotel Berlin Berlin, 2 May 2020.

Unlike the Dining & Bar page above, the menu (which appears to simply be a PDF version of the paper menu) contains no real clues for any of the six items. The name of the restaurant can be inferred from the name of the Hotel Berlin, Berlin Classic Cheese Burger, and the contents implies that it’s a menu.

For this test, the menu scores zero points in all categories. While a proper, HTML version would be much better, it may also cause maintenance issues. A significant improvement that would still work as a PDF would be to simply add the hotel’s logo near the top of the page.

Testing ones own site

It is always difficult to test ones own creations objectively. This is both because you may have some personal pride, and because you know where to look. Asking someone else can be a big help, but with a bit of restraint, it is possible to do the initial test oneself.

Mock-ups article, 3 May 2020.
  • Website name (red): The name and logo is in the top-left corner, and is relatively easy to see. Making the logo slightly larger, or adding some additional color, could possibly be beneficial. Two points.
  • Page title (green): It is each to spot the page title. The wording is somewhat terse, and might benefit from a bit more detail. A better title could be Website mock-ups. Two points.
  • Site structure (blue): I added the breadcrumbs while preparing this article. Prior to that, the location was partially visible by the major category title being highlight in the menu. The breadcrumbs could potentially be clearer by being separated further from the logo. Two points.
  • Major categories (magenta): The menu is very easy to see. It is highlighted both by the negative space around it, and by it being the only red element on the page. Three points.
  • Sub-categories (cyan): The page structure makes it each to jump to different sections. This is helpful for the article itself, but could be significantly improved by having cross-links to related articles on the website. One point.
  • Search (yellow): The search is relatively easy to see, and is above the fold. It could be moved up further to make it more prominent. At the time of writing, however, with 16 pages published in total, searching for contents has only limited relevance. Two points.

As mentioned above, testing one’s own creations is always difficult. If I were to progress with a test, I would ask someone else to do the same test without showing them my own conclusions, and see if they think the same. If you do this enough, it will not only make your specific test more relevant, but it will also make you better at evaluating your own material in the future. While this will never be enough to supplant other people’s input, it will make you much better at seeing things objectively and from different perspectives.