Toby Ward makes a compelling argument to not worry about the graphic design of your intranet. Often, the first solid, easy to grasp version of any website will be the graphic design. Its the first one people really get, even if you've led them through paper protoypes, wireframes, or very rough html mock ups. But its dangerous and counter-productive to make design high priority because on an intranet, users are very focused on performing a task, like finding a document or filling out an expense report. Too many images, video, bells and whistles will both distract and slow the downloading and rendering of the page. It all comes back to knowing your site's audience, understanding why they come to the site, and building the site to suit them. Read Toby Ward's article for a complete list of the issues that should be considered.

That’s not to say that design (look-and-feel) doesn’t play a roll and isn’t important to users. Design is important, but it doesn’t crack the top 6 or 7 priorities. On average, based on my experience working with dozens of intranet clients, design is equivalent to between 8 – 12% of the total intranet’s value. What is really important is content (20-30%), search (15-20%), information architecture (20-30%), and governance and planning (20-30%).