Visually I find D2L to have a fairly clean and sterile look, but it doesn't inspire creativity, nor does it offer a lot of easy options for homepage customization, compared to blog site like Weebly or WordPress. The layout and organization is straightforward, however it can get get quickly cluttered and confusing to navigate depending on how it is built.
As an instructor, building a course within D2L has not been without its frustrations. Clearly a great deal of effort has gone into creating an all inclusive multifunctional LMS, but perhaps here lies the problems. With the ability to manage grades, discussions, quizzes, assignments, surveys and other useful functions, comes a modest degree of complexity. Making all the tools works together requires a fair amount of expertise and I can see how many educators would probably choose to ignore some of the tools, and use their own outside of the LMS. While the built in help wizards, creation tools and drag and drop editing features are definitely a step in the right direction, D2L still lacks the user friendliness of other programs such as Edmodo and Weebly.
The more I work within D2L the more it makes sense, and the beauty of an LMS is that your course is saved in one place. I am happy for the experience of learning D2L, but I'm not sure I'm ready to sing its praises. I think I'll keep test driving before I commit long term.