Thanks for expressing this issue so eloquently. I’ve always felt like something was just “off” with my process. I do a lot of planning and strategy before starting my designs, but you’ve helped me realize that I also need to get some content up front instead of just designing with lorem ipsum.

I’m going to try your 4 W’s Method on my next project, and then develop as much content as possible before throwing the first pixel of design on the screen.

Fantastic article. As always with the new and “shiny” in our industry, it’s easy to get caught up in the thinking and disregard everyone else – which is why I try to teach my clients “why” things are done the way they are and to step back from the buzzwords (which now include mobile first and responsive design) and evaluate what’s best for their users, not just what the industry assumes is.

Although this article is not specific to design, it is very interesting. I like also the mini portal Yahoo on writing: http://styleguide.yahoo.com/

Nicely put. This has always been a frustration of mine working on projects. Hardly anyone ever takes the time to work out the basics before launching into the project feet first.
I’ll be keeping this for fuel for my next argument :D