In my opinion, this matter of size exposes several key considerations of intranet Web design:

1. Designers need to have realistic expectations

One of the reasons Web design has become such a popular, somewhat glamorous topic is audience reach. Many external Web sites have the potential to reach millions of viewers across the world, and it's human nature to seek that kind of popularity and reknown. Intranet designers need to accept up front that their Web work won't draw nearly as much attention. Realistic expectations will help to avoid intranet design mistakes like an overabundance of eye candy or other extraneous features.

2. Scalability isn't a top priority

Intranet development projects involve plenty of work, so (unless you are one of the few designers who has too much free time on their hands) any opportunity that arises to simplify is well worth considering. Many intranets do not need to worry about scaling issues like database access or Web server capacity as can happen on an external site.

3. Feedback is easy to get

One of the most challenging elements of Web design lies in collecting constructive feedback from the user community. External sites employ a wealth of techniques to collect information from a diverse, distributed, and largely anonymous audience. Web designers experiment with online polls and forms, discussion boards, email, and focus group techniques just to name a few.

On the intranet, nearly all of these elements become unnecessary. Generally speaking, the audience is no longer anonymous, and even if the user base is not physically co-located, they can probably be reached easily using a telephone list or internally-managed email addresses. Intranet designers should take advantage of this inherent communication structure. You may be familiar with the term "MBWA" (Management by Wandering Around); consider "Design by Wandering Around" on your next intranet project.

As Jakob Nielsen pointed out in his recent column, usability testing can be selective even for external Web sites. On the intranet, you have the luxury of being able to find that final elusive 10-15% of usability problems with little extra effort.

Conclusion

I hope this article will stimulate your thinking about Web design for the intranet. In total, intranet webs are probably not easier or harder to design than their external counterparts, just... different.

Learn More About It

We look at another key design consideration in Web Design for the Intranet: Don't Fence Me In.

About.com: Web Design offers comprehensive information on external site design.

Jakob Nielsen's Web Design and Usability Hotlist is a must read for intranet designers.